Overview

Transparency in Global Change examines the quest for information exchange in an increasingly international, open society. Recent transformations in governments and cultures have brought about a surge in the pursuit of knowledge in areas of law, trade, professions, investment, education, and medical practice—among others. Technological advancements in communications, led by the United States, and public access to information fuel the phenomenon of transparency. This rise in transparency parallels a diminution of secrecy—though, as Burkart and Leslie Holzner point out, secrecy continues to exist on many levels. Based on current events and historical references in literature and the social sciences, Transparency in Global Change focuses on the turning points of information cultures, such as scandals, that lead to pressure for transparency. Moreover, the Holzners illuminate byproducts of transparency—debate, insight, and impetus for change, as transparency exposes the moral corruptions of dictatorship, empire, and inequity.

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Transparency in Global Change offers a rare educational experience of critical aspects of advanced modernity. Burkart and Leslie Holzner judiciously analyze our contemporary post-cold war, post 9/11 global situation as pitting the democratic ideal of the 'open society, ' based on trust and citizen engagement, against resistance to accountability and transparency from power structures favoring secrecy. The sweep of their work is not only enormous, covering the private and public sectors, but it is also balanced, since some degree of secrecy is a fact of social life, as Simmel long ago realized. All those interested in questions of governance in the global information age will benefit from reading this work. And hopefully they will be stimulated to become active agents for the 'open society.' --Edward A. Tiryakian, Duke University

Transparency in Global Change offers a rare educational experience of critical aspects of advanced modernity. Burkart and Leslie Holzner judiciously analyze our contemporary post cold war, post 9/11 global situation as pitting the democratic ideal of the open society, based on trust and citizen engagement, against resistance to accountability and transparency from power structures favoring secrecy. The sweep of their work is not only enormous, covering the private and public sectors, but it is also balanced, since some degree of secrecy is a fact of social life, as Simmel long ago realized. All those interested in questions of governance in the global information age will benefit from reading this work. And hopefully they will be stimulated to become active agents for the open society. Edward A. Tiryakian, Duke University

Author Information

Burkart Holzner is professor of sociology and public and international affairs, and Distinguished Service Professor Emeritus of International Studies at the University of Pittsburgh. His earlier work dealt with the sociology of knowledge and includes Rea

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