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This Obscure Thing Called Transparency

Politics and Aesthetics of a Contemporary Metaphor

Emmanuel Alloa editor

Format:Paperback

Publisher:Leuven University Press

Published:24th Feb '22

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This Obscure Thing Called Transparency cover

This collection critically examines the complexities of transparency in modern society, offering insights from various experts. This Obscure Thing Called Transparency highlights its paradoxical nature.

In This Obscure Thing Called Transparency, the concept of transparency is explored as a dominant metaphor of contemporary society. It permeates various fields, including government, corporate governance, finance, technology, health, and media. The book poses critical questions about the true meaning of transparency and its implications for individual lives. It invites readers to consider what transparency really entails and how it shapes our understanding of the world around us.

The contributions from a diverse group of international experts delve into the paradoxical nature of transparency and mediation. By examining the interplay between visibility and invisibility, the authors highlight the complexities and contradictions inherent in the pursuit of transparency. They argue that while transparency is often hailed as a virtue, it can also lead to unintended consequences that may undermine the very ideals it seeks to promote.

Through this collection of essays, This Obscure Thing Called Transparency encourages a critical reassessment of the promises and perils associated with transparency in today's society. By drawing on insights from the arts and other disciplines, the book offers a nuanced perspective that challenges simplistic understandings of transparency and calls for a more thoughtful engagement with this pervasive concept.

This Obscure Thing Called Transparency is a timely, wide-ranging, and innovative collection of essays on the metaphorical opacities of 'transparency' from the modern period to the current pandemic crisis. [...] Focused on heterogeneous and illuminating case studies of transparency - from modernist architecture to Wikileaks, shop windows to digital screens, painting to film, new media to the Covid-19 pandemic, among other perspectives - this volume casts a new, informed, and revealing light on the political and aesthetic paradoxes of transparency in the contemporary age.Nidesh Lawtoo, Tijdschrift voor Filosofie: Louvain Journal of Philosophy 84 (2022), nr. 2

ISBN: 9789462703254

Dimensions: unknown

Weight: 545g

340 pages