The DOI matches its Crossref record; 44 of the 46 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Radical Transparency?
Abstract
This article considers the cultural positioning of transparency as a superior form of disclosure through a comparative analysis with other forms. One, as yet under-examined appeal of transparency lies in its promise to circumvent the need for, and usurp the role of, narrative-interpretive forms of disclosure such as scandal, gossip, and conspiracy theories. This growing preference for transparency as a more enlightening, honorable mode of disclosure is not just a result of the positive qualities that are seen to be intrinsic to transparency (particularly e-transparency) itself, but a response to the perceived negative characteristics of other forms of disclosure. After questioning the opposition between transparency and narrative-interpretive disclosures, we can see the preference for the former to be, at least partly, ideological: Transparency reinforces neoliberal tenets as much as democratic ideals. WikiLeaks is invoked in this article as a case which draws on both e-transparency and narrative-interpretive forms of disclosure in a move that wrests transparency from the clutches of neoliberalism and refuses the traditional hierarchy between forms of disclosure. This hybrid form helps us explore the possibility and implications of non-ascendant, radical forms of transparency or, in other words, disclosure without political foreclosure.
Overview
Integrity signals
Registry
Cites
Statistics
Verification
Claims the paper makes
Claims other papers make about this one
Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?
In the citing paper
“As a part of the internal and external accountability processes, transparency can assist in facilitating algorithmic fairness.”
From Out of Context: Investigating the Bias and Fairness Concerns of “Artificial Intelligence as a Service” (2023) · cites this paper as [17]
Citations
Cites
Postmodernism, or, The Cultural Logic of Late Capitalism
Jameson, F. (1992) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822378419 · Cited by 7,061
Strathern, M. (2003) · Routledge eBooks · doi:10.4324/9780203449721 · Cited by 2,665
(1990) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.27-6396 · Cited by 1,375
Edgework: Critical Essays on Knowledge and Politics
Brown, W. Y. (2005) · Project Muse (Johns Hopkins University) · doi:10.1515/9781400826872 · Cited by 1,265
(2013) · The MIT Press eBooks · doi:10.7551/mitpress/9302.001.0001 · Cited by 1,235
A Lover's Discourse: Fragments
Barthes, R. (1977) · Medical Entomology and Zoology · Cited by 1,040
A History of the Modern Fact: Problems of Knowledge in the Sciences of Wealth and Society
Poovey, M. I. (1998) · University of Chicago Press eBooks · doi:10.7208/chicago/9780226675183.001.0001 · Cited by 968
Papers in Honor of Melville J. Herskovits: Gossip and Scandal
Gluckman, M. (1963) · Current Anthropology · doi:10.1086/200378 · Cited by 930
Interactive GovernanceAdvancing the Paradigm
Torfing, J., Peters, B. G., Pierre, J., & Sørensen, E. (2012) · Oxford University Press eBooks · doi:10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199596751.001.0001 · Cited by 838
Memory Practices in the Sciences
(2006) · Journal of Documentation · doi:10.1108/00220410610688804 · Cited by 611
The Open Society and Its Enemies
Popper, K., & Gombrich, E. H. (2013) · Princeton University Press eBooks · doi:10.2307/j.ctt24hqxs · Cited by 477
The ethics of information transparency
Turilli, M., & Floridi, L. (2009) · Ethics and Information Technology · doi:10.1007/s10676-009-9187-9 · Cited by 419
Gorman, M., Gracia, J. J. E., & Eco, U. (1994) · Noûs · doi:10.2307/2215929 · Cited by 340
West, H. G. (2003) · Duke University Press eBooks · doi:10.1215/9780822384854 · Cited by 338
Fung, A., Graham, M., & Weil, D. (2007) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9780521699617 · Cited by 338
Mediatized rituals: beyond manufacturing consent
Cottle, S. (2006) · Media Culture & Society · doi:10.1177/0163443706062910 · Cited by 300
The naked corporation: how the age of transparency will revolutionize business
(2004) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.41-4768 · Cited by 297
Introduction to ‘Secrecy and Transparency’
Birchall, C. (2011) · Theory Culture & Society · doi:10.1177/0263276411427744 · Cited by 266
Self-citationConspiracy and the Paranoid Style: Causality and Deceit in the Eighteenth Century
Wood, G. S. (1982) · The William and Mary Quarterly · doi:10.2307/1919580 · Cited by 266
Worthy, B. (2010) · Governance · doi:10.1111/j.1468-0491.2010.01498.x · Cited by 226
Does transparency strengthen legitimacy?
Curtin, D. M., & Meijer, A. J. (2006) · Information Polity · doi:10.3233/ip-2006-0091 · Cited by 226
Hystories: Hysterical Epidemics and Modern Culture.
Love, S., & Showalter, E. (1998) · Journal of American History · doi:10.2307/2568242 · Cited by 205
Gitelman, L., & Jackson, V. W. (2013) · The MIT Press eBooks · doi:10.7551/mitpress/9302.003.0002 · Cited by 181
Brottman, M. (2005) · Palgrave Macmillan US eBooks · doi:10.1057/9781403978226 · Cited by 150
WikiLeaks: the illusion of transparency
Roberts, A. S. (2012) · International Review of Administrative Sciences · doi:10.1177/0020852311429428 · Cited by 101
Transparency in a New Global Order
(2008) · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · doi:10.4337/9781848441354 · Cited by 90
Data Flakes: An Afterword to “Raw Data” Is an Oxymoron
Bowker, G. C. (2013) · The MIT Press eBooks · doi:10.7551/mitpress/9302.003.0011 · Cited by 84
Hayden White's Critique of the Writing of History
Kansteiner, W. (1993) · History and Theory · doi:10.2307/2505526 · Cited by 83
Conspiracy TheoriesPreprint
Sunstein, C. R., & Vermeule, A. (2008) · SSRN Electronic Journal · doi:10.2139/ssrn.1084585 · Cited by 77
Birkinshaw, P. J. (2006) · British Academy eBooks · doi:10.5871/bacad/9780197263839.003.0003 · Cited by 76
Dashed Expectations: Governmental Adaptation to Transparency Rules
Roberts, A. S. (2006) · British Academy eBooks · doi:10.5871/bacad/9780197263839.003.0007 · Cited by 75
Birchall, C. (2011) · Theory Culture & Society · doi:10.1177/0263276411423040 · Cited by 71
Self-citationWhy people believe weird things 101
Carter, M., & Wilson, K. (2015) · Australasian science · Cited by 65
Knowledge Goes Pop : From Conspiracy Theory to Gossip
Birchall, C. (2006) · Berg eBooks · doi:10.26530/oapen_390769 · Cited by 62
Self-citationHow Mumbo-jumbo Conquered the World
Wheen, F. (2004) · Cited by 55
Birchall, C. (2011) · Cultural Politics an International Journal · doi:10.2752/175174311x12861940861905 · Cited by 55
Self-citationDoes Transparency Make a Difference? The Example of the European Council of Ministers
Stasagage, D. (2006) · British Academy eBooks · doi:10.5871/bacad/9780197263839.003.0010 · Cited by 54
O’Hara, K. (2011) · ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) · Cited by 52
Talk talk talk: the cultural life of everyday conversation
Salamensky, S. I. (2001) · Choice Reviews Online · doi:10.5860/choice.39-1366 · Cited by 49
Politics and Self in the Age of Digital (Re)producibility
Williams, R. W. (2005) · Fast Capitalism · doi:10.32855/fcapital.200501.008 · Cited by 40
Disclosure’s Effects: WikiLeaks and Transparency
Fenster, M. (2011) · UF Law Scholarship Repository (University of Florida) · Cited by 16
Government secrecy and conspiracy theories
Olmsted, K. S. (2011) · Research in social problems and public policy · doi:10.1108/s0196-1152(2011)0000019009 · Cited by 9
Of Stones and Glass Houses: Minima Moralia as Critique of Transparency
Jarosinski, E. (2009) · Fordham University Press eBooks · doi:10.5422/fso/9780823231263.003.0011 · Cited by 5
Truth in 3D: Displaying Historical Evidence at the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
Olesen, B. B. (2008) · Edward Elgar Publishing eBooks · doi:10.4337/9781848441354.00009 · Cited by 1
Research works printed but not linked: 23
- Adut A., 2008, On scandal
- Barthes R., 1986, The rustle of language
- Deleuze G., 1992, October, 59, 3
- Eco U., 1989, Foucault’s pendulum
- Emler N., 1994, Good gossip, 117
- Fenster M., 2008, Washington and Lee Law Review, 65, 1239
- Flyverbom M., 2011, Paper presented at the First Global Conference on Transparency Research
- Foucault M., 2008, The birth of biopolitics
- Goldberg J. (2006, December 13). America the treacherous. National Review Online. Retrieved from http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/218709/america-treacherous/jonah-goldberg
- Goodman R. F., 1994, Good gossip
- Hall G. (2011). Introduction: White noise: On the limits of openness (Living Book mix). Digitize me, visualize me, search me: Open science and its discontents. Ann Arbor, MI: Open Humanities Press. Retrieved from http://www.livingbooksaboutlife.org/books/Open_science/Introduction
- Heidegger M., 1962, Being and time
- Hofstadter R., 1966, The paranoid style and other essays
- 10.1007/978-1-349-19059-1_25 · DOI
- Lord K. M., 2006, The perils and promise of global transparency
- Lull J., 1997, Media scandals: Morality and desire in the popular market place
- Manovich L., 2001, The language of new media
- Office of the Law Revision Counsel of the House of Representatives, 2012, United States Code
- Ranciere J., 1992, On the shores of politics
- Ruppert E., 2012, Doing the transparent state
- Schein S., 1994, Good gossip, 139
- Spacks P., 1985, Gossip
- White H., 1987, The content and the form: Narrative discourse and historical representation
Cited by
Sorted by citations
Ananny, M., & Crawford, K. (2018) · New Media & Society · doi:10.1177/1461444816676645 · Cited by 1,836
Facts and Where to Find Them: Empirical Research on Internet Platforms and Content Moderation
Keller, D., & Leerssen, P. (2020) · Data Archiving and Networked Services (DANS) · doi:10.1017/9781108890960
Social Media, Echo Chambers, and Political Polarization
Barberá, P. (2020) · Social Media and Democracy · doi:10.1017/9781108890960.004 · Cited by 373
Misinformation, Disinformation, and Online Propaganda
Guess, A. M., & Lyons, B. A. (2020) · Social Media and Democracy · doi:10.1017/9781108890960.003 · Cited by 284
Siegel, A. A. (2020) · Cambridge University Press eBooks · doi:10.1017/9781108890960.005 · Cited by 123
Metadata
- Authors
- Birchall, C.
- Affiliations
- King's College London (GB)
- Corresponding author
- Birchall, Clare
- ORCID
- Birchall, Clare
- Venue
- Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2014-01-13
- Volume
- 14
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 77-88
- ISSN
- 1532-7086 (ISSN-L)
- 1552-356X
- OpenAlex
- W4239656662
- Cited by
- 123
- References
- 46
- Citations by year
- 2026: 8 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 10 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 6 · 2021: 10 · 2020: 38 · 2019: 3 · 2018: 9 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 2
- FWCI
- 21.73
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Culture Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies (publishedVersion)
- Research Portal (King's College London) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Foucault, Power, and Ethics
- Social Sciences › Communication › Cultural Studies and Postmodernism
- Social Sciences › Linguistics and Language › Cultural and political discourse analysis
- Keywords
- transparency, disclosure, scandal, gossip, conspiracy theories, WikiLeaks, neoliberalism, democracy, radical transparency, ideology
About these checks
Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.
Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.
Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.
What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›
Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review