Introduction to ‘Secrecy and Transparency’

@article{Birchall2011IntroductionT,
  title={Introduction to ‘Secrecy and Transparency’},
  author={Clare Birchall},
  journal={Theory, Culture \& Society},
  year={2011},
  volume={28},
  pages={25 - 7}
}
  • Clare Birchall
  • Published 1 December 2011
  • Political Science, Art
  • Theory, Culture & Society
This article opens a special section on the politics of opacity and openness. The rise of transparency as a political and cultural ideal has left secrecy to accumulate negative connotations. But the moral discourse that condemns secrecy and rewards transparency may cause us to misread the symbiotic relationship between these terms. After providing a historical account of transparency in public and political life, this article therefore makes the case for working with the tension between these… 
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While the choice between secrecy and transparency has political and cultural salience, this paper questions the logic of such an opposition. Through a consideration of the different attitudes towards…
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In the modern age, the political secret has acquired a bad reputation. With modern democracy’s ideal of transparency, political secrecy is identified with political crime or corruption. The article…
Seeing the State: Transparency as Metaphor
When applied as a public administrative norm, the term and concept “transparency” has two intertwined meanings. First, it refers to those constitutional and legislative tools that require the…
Commercial‐in‐Confidence: An Obituary to Transparency?
This article addresses the issue of accountability and transparency in relation to the use of commercial-in-confidence clauses to withhold information. The issue is contentious. On the one hand some…
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