The Transparency Paradox

Transparency has become a new norm. States, international organizations, and even private businesses have sought to bolster their legitimacy by invoking transparency in their activities. This growth in popularity was made possible through two interconnected trends: the idea that transparency is inherently good, and that the actual meaning of the term is becoming harder and harder to pin down. Thus far, this has remained undertheorized. The Transparency Paradox is an insightful account of the hidden logic of the ideal of transparency and its legal manifestations. It shows how transparency is a covertly conflicted ideal. The book argues that counter to popular understanding, truth and legitimacy cannot but form a problematic trade-off in transparency practices.

1 - The Era of Transparency
2 - Transparency as a Medium
3 - The Eye of the Beholder
4 - Transparency and Social Life
5 - Transparency and Power
6 - Transparency and Law
7 - The Discursification of Transparency
8 - The Future of Transparency: from Representation to Simulation?
9 - The Truth-Legitimacy Tradeoff

Ida Koivisto is associate professor of public law at University of Helsinki. She is a member of both The Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights and The Centre of Excellence in the Foundations of European Law and Polity Research in University of Helsinki.