Module  Title:     Cultures  of  Secrecy  

   
Module  code     7YYA0010  
Department     English  
Programme       MA  American  Studies  
 
   
Tutor:  Dr  Clare  Birchall  
Email:  clare.birchall@kcl.ac.uk  
Office  Number  &  Building:  VWB  627  
Office  Hours:   TBC  
 
Credit  Level:   7  
Credit  Value:   20  
Teaching  period  of  module:   Semester  1  
Assessment  pattern:   1  x  4000-­‐word  essay    
Essay  deadline:  TBC  
-­‐ Electronic  copy  to  be  submitted  online  through  Keats.  

1
  
 
 
In   the   contemporary   U.S.   and   other   liberal   democracies   there   is   a   polarisation   between  
ideals   of   transparency  –   borne   out   in   legislation,   freedom   of   information,   surveillance   and  
confessionary   culture   –   and   what   we   might   call   a   secret   sphere,   an   institutionalised  
commitment   to   covert   security   operations   that   exist   beyond   the   public   sphere.   This   module  
will   consider   the   relationship   between   concealment   and   revelation   in   both   cultural   and  
political   realms.   We   will   apply   sociological,   literary   and   philosophical   theories   about   the  
secret   (and   related   concepts   such   as   privacy,   transparency,   the   public   sphere),   to   case  
studies  and  cultural  texts.  
   
In   terms   of   concealment,   we   may   consider   the   image   of   the   intelligence   services   in   visual  
and   literary   culture,   the   U.S.   classification   system   and   practices   of   redaction,   the   secret  
rituals   of   sororities   and   fraternities   at   U.S.   colleges,   the   occluding   tendencies   of  
neoliberalism   (privatisation   and   outsourcing),   and   the   social   function   of   secret   societies  
(from   the   KKK   to   the   Freemasons).   With   regard   to   different   forms   of   revelation,   we   will  
analyse   the   modern   confessional   mode   as   evident   in   talk   shows,   reality   TV   and   blogs;   the  
phenomenon   of   WikiLeaks   and   other   acts   of   virtual   transparency;   and   the   prevalence   of  
conspiracy   theories   on   the   Internet.   By   looking   at   a   number   of   narrative   fictions   (literature,  
television,   film,   graphic   novels)   alongside   historico-­‐political   cases,   we   will   explore   Tim  
Melley’s  proposition  that  such  fictions  afford  the  public  an  essential  opportunity  to  engage  
with   and   fantasise   about   the   covert   state.   This   module   will   address   what   is   politically,  
ethically,  socially  and  ontologically  at  stake  in  cultures  of  secrecy  at  the  personal,  national,  
and  international  level.    

 
 
 
 
 
2
Reading  
You  will  need  a  copy  of  Thomas  Pynchon,  The  Crying  of  Lot  49;  and  a  copy  of  The  Circle  by  
Dave  Eggers.  Please  allow  enough  time  to  read  these  novels.  
 
Useful  Books    

• Melley,  T.  (2012)  The  Covert  Sphere:  Secrecy,  Fiction  and  the  National  Security  State.  
Cornell  University  Press.  
• Barrett,  D.  V.  (1999)  Secret  Societies:  From  The  Ancient  And  Arcane  To  The  Modern  And  
Clandestine,  Blandford  Press.  
• Bok,  S.  (1989)  Secrets:  On  the  Ethics  of  Concealment  and  Revelation  Secrets,  Second  
Edition,  London  and  New  York,  Vintage  Books.  
• Goldman,  J.  &  S.  Maret,  (2011)  Government  Secrecy:  Vol.  19  of  Research  in  Social  
Problems  and  Public  Policy,  Emerald  Group  Publishing.  
• Goldman,  J.  &  S.  Maret,  (2009)  Government  Secrecy:  Classic  and  Contemporary  
Readings,  Libraries  Unlimited.  
• Dean,  J.  (2002)  Publicity's  Secret:  How  Technoculture  Capitalizes  on  Democracy,  Ithaca,  
NY:  Cornell  University  Press.  
• Fenster,  M.  (2008)  Conspiracy  Theories:  secrecy  and  power  in  American  culture,  Second  
Edition,  Minneapolis:  University  of  Minnesota  Press.  
• Finel,  Bernard  L.  &  Kristen  M.  Lord,  Power  and  Conflict  in  the  Age  of  Transparency  
(London:  Palgrave  Macmillan,  2002).  
• Packer,  J.  (2009)  Secret  Agents:  Popular  Icons  Beyond  James  Bond,  New  York:  Peter  
Lang.  
• Roberts,  A.  (2006)  Blacked  Out:  Government  Secrecy  in  the  Information  Age,  
Cambridge:  Cambridge  University  Press.  
• Simmel,  G.  (1906)  "The  Sociology  of  Secrecy  and  of  the  Secret  Societies,"  American  
Journal  of  Sociology  11:  441-­‐498.    
• Taylor,  C.  (2009)  The  Culture  of  Confession  from  Augustine  to  Foucault:  A  Genealogy  of  
the  'Confessing  Animal',  New  York  &  London:  Routledge.  
• Tefft,  S.  (1980)  Secrecy:  A  Cross  Cultural  Perspective,  Human  Sciences  Press.  
 
I  have  also  collated  a  number  of  online  readings  on  secrecy  and  transparency  at  the  
following  web  address:  
http://liquidbooks.pbworks.com/w/page/39188133/Transparency%20and%20Sec
recy  
 
As  many  of  the  weekly  set  readings  as  possible  will  be  available  in  PDF  form  on  Keats.  
Please  download  and  print  for  your  use.  We  will  often  refer  to  readings  in  seminars  
so  please  have  them  handy  in  digital  form  or  hard  copy.  
 
Screenings  
You  are  required  to  watch  two  films  for  this  course:  both  of  them  are  in  the  Maugham  
Library.  
 
 
 
 
 
3
  
 
COURSE  STRUCTURE  
 
1:     Course  Introduction  
2:       The  Social  Functions  of  Secrecy  
3:       State  Secrecy  
4:       The  Covert  Sphere  and  Mediated  Spies  
5:     Codebreaking:  The  Crying  of  Lot  49    
6:     READING  WEEK      
7:     Aesthetics  of  Secrecy  
8:       Transparency,  Whistleblowing  and  WikiLeaks  
9:       The  Politics  of  Privacy  and  Transparency:  The  Circle  
10:       Popular  Disclosure:  Conspiracy  Theory,  Gossip,  Scandal  
11:       Secrecy  Beyond  Borders  

 
 
Preparation  
Each  week  will  specify  a  number  of  set  readings  that  will  be  available  in  digital  form  on  
Keats.  These  readings  are  compulsory.  Whilst  reading,  you  should  make  notes  about  how  
each  text  fits  into  1)  that  week’s  theme;  and  2)  the  wider  questions  we  are  asking.  You  
should  come  to  the  seminar  having  things  to  say  about  the  texts  you  have  read.    
 
You  will  be  assigned  a  week  to  present  on  a  secondary  reading.  You  may  choose  any  of  the  
readings  from  the  Further  Reading  to  introduce  and  summarise.  You  should  make  links  
between  the  further  reading  and  set  reading  and  draw  on  real-­‐world  or  cultural  examples  to  
illustrate  your  reading.    
 
Several  weeks  require  you  to  attend  a  screening.  See  the  week  by  week  course  outline  and  
make  a  note  in  your  diary.  
 
Some  weeks  require  you  to  research  a  particular  cultural  phenomenon  before  the  seminar.  
See  the  week  by  week  course  outline  for  details.  
 
Assessment  
You  will  need  to  choose  a  topic  you  wish  to  write  on  and  propose  an  essay  title.  You  can  
only  proceed  with  an  essay  title/question  once  it  has  been  agreed  by  me.    
 
You  are  welcome  to  discuss  ideas  about  your  essays  with  me  during  my  office  hours  or  by  
appointment.  I  cannot,  however,  look  at  or  edit  first  drafts  of  essays  –  this  has  to  be  your  
own  work  that  emerges  out  of  seminar  discussions,  independent  thought  and  research,  and  
a  tutorial  with  me  if  requested.    
 
 

4
Material  on  Keats  
Keats  is  the  name  of  an  electronic  facility  on  one  of  the  university’s  servers.  You  will  all  have  
an  account  of  the  on  the  university’s  computing  system.  All  PowerPoint  slides  used  in  
seminars,  a  copy  of  this  course  booklet,  electronic  copies  of  readings  and  useful  links  will  be  
posted  on  Keats.  You  should  login  to  Keats  regularly  to  check  if  there  is  anything  new  there  
for  you.  You  can  use  the  discussion  forum  to  tell  your  fellow  students  about  relevant  events  
or  to  simply  continue  the  discussion.  I  will  use  the  Keats  ‘News’  facility  to  contact  you  
during  the  course,  so  you  must  check  your  university  mail  regularly.  

5
  

Week  1:  Course  Introduction  

In  this  first  seminar,  we  will  try  to  define  the  secret  and  secrecy  and  explore  why  they  are  
important  concepts  for  understanding  American  culture  and  global  relations.    
Key  Texts  
• Bok,  S.  (1984)  Approaches  to  Secrecy.  In  Secrets:  On  the  Ethics  of  Concealment  and  
Revelation.  Oxford:  Oxford  University  Press.  pp.3-­‐14.  
 

Week  2:  The  Social  &  Psychological  Functions  of  Secrecy    

Secrets  have  been  seen  to  be  key  to  understanding  how  small  communities  and  whole  
societies  function,  how  relationships  are  formed,  and  how  children  develop  a  sense  of  
identity.  This  week,  we  shall  examine  some  of  these  functionalist  readings  of  secrecy  while  
thinking  about  sororities  and  fraternities  and  other  secret  societies.  Take  a  look  at  the  book,  
Pledged  by  Alexandra  Robbins,  for  a  journalistic  description  of  life  in  a  sorority  if  you’re  
interested.  
Key  Texts  
• Simmel,  G.  (1906)  The  Sociology  of  Secrecy  and  of  the  Secret  Societies.  American  
Journal  of  Sociology,  11,  441-­‐498.    
• Winnicott,  D.W.  (1965)  'On  Communicating  and  Not  Communicating',  The  
Maturational  Process  and  the  Facilitating  Environment,  London:  The  Hogarth  Press  
and  the  Institute  of  Psycho-­‐Analysis,  pp179-­‐192.  
• Kulish,  N.  (2002)  Female  Sexuality:  The  Pleasure  of  Secrets  and  the  Secret  of  
Pleasure.  Psychoanalytic  Study  of  the  Child,  57,  151-­‐73.  
Further  Reading    
Psychoanalysis  
Barron,  J.,  R.  Beaumont,  G.  Goldsmith,  M.  Good,  R.  Pyles,  A.  Rizzuto,  et  al.  (1991)  Sigmund  
Freud:  The  Secrets  of  Nature  and  the  Nature  of  Secrets.  International  Review  of  Psycho-­‐
Analysis,  18,  143-­‐63.  Available  online  at:  http://www.rpylesmd.org/pdf/English/Secrets-­‐-­‐
Freud.pdf  
Rashkin,  E.  (1992)  Family  Secrets  and  the  Psychoanalysis  of  Narrative.  Princeton:  Princeton  
University  Press.  
Rashkin,  E.  (2008)  Unspeakable  Secrets  and  the  Psychoanalysis  of  Culture.  New  York:  New  
York  University  Press.  
Anthropology  /  Sociology  
Graham  M.  Jones,  ‘Secrecy’,  Annual  Review  of  Anthropology  Vol.  43:  53-­‐69  (October  2014).  
Goffman,  I.  (1959)  The  Presentation  of  the  Self.  London  and  New  York:  Penguin.  
Nippert-­‐Eng,  C.E.  (2010)  Chapter  One:  Secrets  and  Secrecy.  Islands  of  Privacy.  Chicago:  
University  of  Chicago  Press.  pp.  21-­‐96.  
Tefft,  S.K.  (1980)  Secrecy,  Disclosure  and  Social  Theory.  In  Tefft,  S.K.  (ed.)  Secrecy:  A  Cross-­‐
Cultural  Perspective.  London:  Human  Sciences  Press.  pp.35-­‐76.  
Schaefer,  R.T.  (1980)  The  Management  of  Secrecy:  The  Ku  Klux  Klan’s  Successful  Secret.  In  
Tefft,  S.K.  (ed.)  Secrecy:  A  Cross-­‐Cultural  Perspective.  London:  Human  Sciences  Press.  pp.161-­‐
177.  

6
Luhrmann,  T.  M.  (1989).  The  Magic  of  Secrecy.  Ethos,  17  (2)  June,  131-­‐165.  Available  on  
Scribd:  http://www.scribd.com/doc/36145485/The-­‐Magic-­‐of-­‐Secrecy    
Bellman,  B.  (1984).  The  Language  of  Secrecy.  New  Brunswick,  NJ:  Rutgers  University  Press.  
Gable,  Eric.  (1997).  A  Secret  Shared:  Fieldwork  and  the  Sinister  in  a  West  African  Village.  
Cultural  Anthropology,  12  (2)  May,  213-­‐233.  
Piot,   C.D.   (1993)   Secrecy,   Ambiguity,   and   the   Everyday   in   Kabre   Culture.   American  
Anthropologist,  95  (2)  June,  353-­‐370.  
Child  Development  
Peskin,  J.  (1992)  Ruse  and  Representations:  On  Children’s  Ability  to  Conceal  Information.  
Developmental  Psychology  28,  84-­‐9  
Pipe,  M.E.  and  Goodman,  G.S.  (1991)  Elements  of  Secrecy:  Implications  for  Children’s  
Testimony.  Behavioral  Sciences  and  the  Law,  9,  33-­‐41.  
Organisation  Studies  
Scott,  S.  (2013)  Anonymous  Agencies,  Backstreet  Businesses  and  Covert  Collectives:  Rethinking  
Organizations  in  the  21st  Century,  Stanford  University  Press.  
 

Week  3:  State  Secrecy  

This  week,  we  will  think  about  the  implications  of  secrecy  neither  in  terms  of  personal  
psychological  development  nor  group  dynamics,  but  with  respect  to  the  state.  Simmel’s  
study  of  secrecy  (our  reading  for  last  week)  and  his  concern  with  the  distribution  of  
information,  is  relevant  again  to  our  discussion,  but  here  we  are  much  more  interested  in  
state  forms  of  power.  We  will  try  to  think  through  the  tension  in  liberal  democracies  
between  freedom  of  information  and  national  security.  How  are  state  secrets  managed  and  
how  does  this  position  the  citizen?  What  is  the  proper  role  of  secrecy  within  government  
today?  In  preparation,  look  at  the  list  of  secrets  on  
https://bkofsecrets.wordpress.com/2009/01/17/68/  and  follow  some  of  the  links,  making  
notes.  
Before  this  seminar,  you  should  go  to  the  Maugham  Library  and  watch  the  
following  film:  
Secrecy  –  A  Film  by  Peter  Galison  and  Robb  Moss;  Library  shelf  mark:  PN1995.9.D6  SEC  
Key  Texts  
• Theoharis,  G.  (1998)  ‘Introduction,’  A  Culture  of  Secrecy:  The  Government  versus  the  
people’s  Right  to  Know.  Kansas:  Kansas  University  Press.  pp.  1-­‐15.  
• Masco,  J.  (2010)  ‘Sensitive  but  Unclassified’:  Secrecy  and  the  Counterterrorist  State.  
Public  Culture  22  (3):  433-­‐463.  

Further  Reading  
Maret,  S.  (2011)  Introduction,  Goldman,  J.  &  S.  Maret,  (eds)  Government  Secrecy:  Vol.  19  of  
Research  in  Social  Problems  and  Public  Policy,  Emerald  Group  Publishing.  pp.xi-­‐xxx.  
Bok,  S.  (1984)  Secrets  of  State.  Secrets:  On  the  Ethics  of  Concealment  and  Revelation.  Oxford  
University  Press.  pp.171-­‐190.  
Rappert,  B.  (2012)  How  to  Look  Good  in  a  War.  London:  Pluto.  
 
Roberts,  A.S  (2006)  Blacked  Out:  Government  Secrecy  in  the  Information  Age.  New  York:  
Cambridge  University  Press.    

7
  
E.  Horn,  ‘Knowing  the  Enemy:  The  Epistemology  of  Secret  Intelligence,’  Grey  Room  11  
(Spring  2003):  58-­‐85.    
Blanton,  T.  (2003)  National  Security  and  Open  Government  in  the  United  States:  Beyond  the  
Balancing  Test.  In  Roberts,  A.  &  Darbishire,  H.  (eds.)  National  Security  and  Open  
Government:  Striking  the  Right  Balance.  Syracuse:  Campbell  Public  Affairs  Institute.  pp.31-­‐
71    
Moynihan,  P.  (2000)  Secrecy:  The  American  Experience,  Yale  University  Press.  
Horn,  E.  (2011)  Logics  of  Political  Secrecy.  Theory,  Culture  &  Society,  28  (7/8),  103-­‐122.  
Maret,  S.  (ed.)  Government  Secrecy.  Research  in  Social  Problems  and  Public  Policy  19.  
Emerald.    
Maret,  S.  &  Goldman,  J.  (2009)  Government  Secrecy:  Classic  and  Contemporary  Readings.  
Westport,  CT.  Libraries  Unlimited.  
Davis,  C.N.  &  Splichal,  S.L.  (2000)  Access  Denied:  Freedom  of  Information  in  the  Information  
Age.  Ames:  Iowa  State  University  Press.  
Galnoor,  I.  (1975)  Government  Secrecy:  Exchanges,  Intermediaries,  and  Middlemen.  Public  
Administration  Review,  35  (1),  32-­‐42.  
Robertson,  K.G.  (1982)  Public  Secrets:  a  Study  in  the  Development  of  Government  Secrecy.    
London:  St.  Martin's  Press.  
Priest,  D.  and  Arkin,  W.M.  (2011)  Top  Secret  America:  The  Rise  of  the  New  American  Security  
State.  New  York:  Little,  Brown.  
Aftergood,  S.  (2010)  National  Security  Secrecy:  How  the  Limits  Change.  Social  Research,  77  
(3),  pp.839-­‐852.  
Paglen,  T.  (2009)  B la n k  sp o ts  o n  th e  m a p  -­‐  th e  d a r k  g e o g r a p h y  o f  th e  p e n ta g o n 's  
se c r e t  w o r ld .  Dutton  Adult.  
 

Week  4:  The  Covert  Sphere  &  Mediated  Spies    

This  week  we  will  consider  Tim  Melley’s  thesis  that  fictions  afford  the  public  an  essential  
opportunity  to  engage  with  and  fantasise  about  the  covert  state.  He  argues  that  ‘in  an  era  of  
covert  action,  such  fantasies  are  crucial  vehicles  of  public  half-­‐knowledge’  (2012:  14).  A  
central  part  of  this  fantasy  is  the  image  of  the  spy.  The  spy  has  become  central  to  the  way  in  
which  citizens  imagine  the  relationship  between  secrecy  and  the  state,  and  its  trade  in  
intelligence  and  information.  In  this  session  we  will  examine  why  the  spy  is  an  enduring  
figure  even  after  the  end  of  the  Cold  War.    
Before  this  seminar,  please  watch  Spy  Kids  (Rodriguez,  2001):  in  library  or  
sometimes  available  online.  
Key  Texts  
• Melley,  T.  (2012)  ‘Introduction:  The  Postmodern  Public  Sphere’,  The  Covert  Sphere:  
Secrecy,  Fiction  and  the  National  Security  State.  Cornell  University  Press.  1-­‐43.  
• Jordan,  M.  (2009)  ‘Tween  Rockwell  and  Orwell:  The  Re-­‐Culturing  of  Paranoia  in  the  
Spy  Kids  Films’,  Secret  Agents:  Popular  Icons  Beyond  James  Bond,  New  York:  Peter  
Lang.  pp.77-­‐88.  
• Mazetti,  M.  (2013)  ‘C.I.A.  to  Focus  More  on  Spying,  a  Difficult  Shift,’  New  York  Times,  
May  23,  http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/24/us/politics/plan-­‐would-­‐orient-­‐cia-­‐
back-­‐toward-­‐spying.html?pagewanted=1&_r=0&hp  [online  source]  
8
  
Further  Reading  
Packer,  J.  (2009)  Secret  Agents:  Popular  Icons  Beyond  James  Bond,  New  York:  Peter  Lang.    
Bratich,  J.  (2009)  ‘Spies  Like  Us:  Secret  Agency  and  Popular  Occulture’.  Secret  Agents:  
Popular  Icons  Beyond  James  Bond,  New  York:  Peter  Lang.  pp.133-­‐162.  
Tefft,  S.K.  (1980)  Espionage  and  Evaluation.  In  S.K.  Tefft  (ed.)  Secrecy:  A  Cross-­‐Cultural  
Perspective,  Human  Sciences  Press.  pp.332-­‐337.  
Der  Derian,  J.  (1992).  Antidiplomacy:  Spies,  Terror,  Speed,  and  War.  Cambridge,  Mass.:  
Blackwell.  Particularly  Chapters  2  &  3..    
Horn,  E.  ‘Knowing  the  Enemy:  The  Epistemology  of  Secret  Intelligence,’  Grey  Room  11  
(Spring  2003):  58-­‐85.    
Bennett,  T.  &  Woollacott,  J.  (1987)  Bond  and  Beyond:  the  Political  Career  of  a  Popular  Hero.  
Basingstoke:  Macmillan  Education.  
Christoph,  L.  (2003)  The  James  Bond  Phenomenon:  a  Critical  Reader.  Manchester:  
Manchester  University  Press.  
 

Week  5:  Codebreaking:  The  Crying  of  Lot  49    

Codebreaking  holds  a  special  place  in  the  spy  fictions  we  discussed  last  week.  In  this  
seminar,  we  will  be  applying  the  metaphor  of  codebreaking  to  the  practice  of  interpretation  
–  interpretation  of  both  words  and  the  world.  What  happens  when  we  approach  cultural  or  
literary  texts  like  codes  to  be  cracked?  What  limits  are  there  to  hermeneutic  practice?  Does  
paranoia  interfere  with  or  enhance  the  ability  to  read  postmodern  landscapes?  We  will  be  
thinking  about  these  questions  through  Thomas  Pynchon’s  novella,  The  Crying  of  Lot  49.    
Key  Texts  
• Pynchon,  T.  (1965)  The  Crying  of  Lot  49.    
• Hollander,  C.  (1997)  ‘Pynchon,  JFK  and  the  CIA:  Magic  Eye  Views  of  The  Crying  of  Lot  
49’,  Pynchon  Notes  40-­‐41  (1997):  61–106.
http://www.ottosell.de/pynchon/magiceye.htm  
Further  Reading  
Kosofsky  Sedgwick,  E.  (2003)  ‘Paranoid  Reading  and  Reparative  Reading,  or  You’re  So  
Paranoid,  You  Probably  Think  This  Essay  Is  About  You,’  in  Touching  Feeling:  Affect,  
Pedagogy,  Performativity,  Duke  University  Press:  123–51.  
Cooper,  P.  Signs  and  Symptoms:  Thomas  Pynchon  and  the  Contemporary  World.  Berkeley:  
University  of  California  Press.  
Kermode,  F.  (1978)  ‘Decoding  the  Tristero,’  Pynchon:  A  Collection  of  Critical  Essays,  ed.  
Edward  Mendelson.  Englewood  Cliffs:  Prentice  Hall.  Pp.162-­‐66.    
Johnston,  J.  (1992  )  Toward  the  Schizo-­‐Text:  Paranoia  as  Semiotic  Regime  in  the  Crying  of  
Lot  49.  P.  O’Donnell  (ed.)  New  Essays  on  the  Crying  of  Lot  49.  Cambridge:  Cambridge  
University  Press.  
P.  O’Donnell  (ed.)  New  Essays  on  the  Crying  of  Lot  49.  Cambridge:  Cambridge  University  
Press.  
[You  will  find  many  more  books  and  articles  on  Pynchon  with  a  simple  search.]  
 

9
Week  6  READING  WEEK  –  NO  seminar  this  week    
 

Week  7:  Aesthetics  of  the  Secret    

In  this  seminar  we  will  be  looking  at  a  number  of  artists  that  engage  with  the  theme  of  
secrecy  in  different  ways.  You  will  each  be  encouraged  to  present  the  work  of  a  different  
artist,  guided  by  questions  such  as:  How  does  one  represent  that  which,  by  definition,  must  
not  be  represented?  How  does  this  artwork  raise  questions  about  the  role  and  limits  of  
secrecy  in  contemporary  society?  What  can  art  tell  us  about  the  secret  that  other  forms  of  
communication  cannot?

Key  Texts  
• Lee,  P.M.  (2011)  ‘Open  Secret:  On  the  Work  of  Art  Between  Disclosure  and  
Redaction’,  Artforum  May.  URL  http://www.jillmagid.net/pdf/JIMA-­‐
Artforum_0511.pdf  
• Gustafsson,  H.  (2013)  ‘Foresight,  Hindsight  and  State  Secrecy  in  the  American  West:  
The  Geopolitical  Aesthetics  of  Trevor  Paglen’,  Journal  of  Visual  Culture  12(1):  148-­‐
164.  

Further  Reading/Listening  

• Beck,  J.  (2011)  ‘Photography  as  Double  Agent,’  Theory  Culture  and  Society  28  (7-­‐8)  
December:  123-­‐139.  
• Blas,  Z.  (2014)  ‘Informatic  Opacity’,  The  Journal  of  Aesthetics  and  Politics  
http://www.joaap.org/issue9/zachblas.htm    
• Loock,  U.  (2013)  ‘Opacity,’  Frieze  d/e.  http://frieze-­‐
magazin.de/archiv/features/opazitaet/?lang=en  
• Jill  Magid  at  The  Modern  Art  Museum  in  Fort  Worth,  
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/tuesday-­‐evening-­‐at-­‐
modern/id318956683?i=111565516&mt=2  
• Jill  Magid  at  the  Tate,  https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/exhibition-­‐jill-­‐magid-­‐
authority/id497703772?i=109887293&mt=2  
• Trevor  Paglen,  Spark,  https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/trevor-­‐paglen-­‐
photographer/id404285019?i=93918736&mt=2  
• Weiner,  J.  (2012)  ‘Prying  Eyes:  Trevor  Paglen  makes  art  out  of  government  secrets,’  
The  New  Yorker,  October  22:  54-­‐61.  
• GERRITY,  J.  (2009)  ‘Secret  Agency:  Jill  Magid  at  Yvon  Lambert’,  Rhizome,  Oct  15.  
http://rhizome.org/editorial/2009/oct/15/secret-­‐agency/  
• Mirzeoff,  N.  (2011)  ‘The  Right  to  Look’,  Critical  Inquiry,  Vol.  37,  No.  3  (Spring  2011),  
pp.  473-­‐496  http://nicholasmirzoeff.com/RTL/wp-­‐content/uploads/2011/06/RTL-­‐
from-­‐CI.pdf  
• Paglen,  T.  (2010)  Invisible:  Covert  Operations  and  Classified  Landscapes,  Aperture.  
• Magid,  J.  (2010)  Becoming  Tarden,  New  Museum  of  Contemporary  Art.    
 
 
 

10
Week  8:  The  Politics  of  Privacy  and  Transparency:  The  Circle  
For  this  seminar,  you  should  read  The  Circle  by  Dave  Eggers.  Through  this  novel,  we  will  
discuss  the  concepts  of  privacy  and  transparency  and  Eggers’  critique  of  them.  
Key  Texts  
Eggers,  D.  (2013)  The  Circle,  Hamish  Hamilton.  
Further  Reading  
Cohen,  J.  (2013)  The  Private  Life.  London:  Granta.  
Nippert-­‐Eng,  C.E.  (2010)  Introduction.  Islands  of  Privacy.  Chicago:  University  of  Chicago  
Press.  pp.  1-­‐18.  
Fairfield,  P.  (2005)  Negotiating  a  Distinction.  Public/Private.  Lanham:  Rowman  and  
Littlefield.  pp.  1-­‐34.  
Agre,  P.  E.  (1994)  ‘Surveillance  and  Capture:  Two  Models  of  Privacy,’  Information  Society  
10(2),  April  -­‐  June:  101  -­‐  127.  
Fairfield,  P.  (2005)  Political  Philosophy  in  the  Bedroom.  Public/Private.  Lanham:  Rowman  
and  Littlefield.  pp.  65-­‐99.  
Pateman,  C.  (1993).  Feminist  Critiques  of  the  Public/Private  Dichotomy.  In  Public  and  
Private  in  Social  Life,  edited  by  S.I.  Benn  and  G.  F.  Gauss.  London:  Croom  Helm.  
Arendt,  H.  (1958).  The  Human  Condition.  Chicago:  University  of  Chicago  Press.    
Habermas,  J.  (1991)  The  Structural  Transformation  of  the  Public  Sphere:  an  Inquiry  into  a  
Category  of  Bourgeois  Society.  Cambridge:  MIT  Press.  
Warren,  C.    &  Laslett,  B.  (1980)  Privacy  and  Secrecy:  A  Conceptual  Comparison.  In  Tefft,  S.K.  
(ed.)  Secrecy:  A  Cross-­‐Cultural  Perspective,  Human  Sciences  Press.  pp.25-­‐34.  
Morton,  H.  (1982)  The  History  of  the  Public/Private  Distinction.  University  of  Pennsylvania  
Law  Review,  130,  1423-­‐1428.  
Mills,  J.  L.  (2008).  Privacy:  The  Lost  Right.  New  York:  Oxford  University  Press.    
Privacy  and  Digital  Culture  
Brin,  D.  (1998)  The  Transparent  Society:  Will  Technology  Force  Us  to  Choose  Between  Privacy  
and  Freedom?  New  York:  Basic  Books.  
Boyd,  D.  (2010)  Making  Sense  of  Privacy  and  Publicity.  SXSW.  Austin,  Texas,  March  13.  
Available  at:  http://www.danah.org/papers/talks/2010/SXSW2010.html  You  can  also  
watch  a  Youtube  of  this  talk  at  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=daqq5_xMjIo    
Debatin,  B.  et  al.  (2009)  Facebook  and  Online  Privacy:  Attitudes,  Behaviors,  and  Unintended  
Consequences.  Journal  of  Computer-­‐Mediated  Communication,  15  (1),  83-­‐108.  Available  
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1083-­‐6101.2009.01494.x/full  
 
(See  Week  9’s  reading  list  for  sources  on  transparency.)  
 

Week  9:  Transparency,  Whistleblowing  &  WikiLeaks    

This  week  we  will  stay  with  transparency,  but  less  from  a  personal  perspective  and  more  in  
terms  of  the  state.  We  will  consider  both  state  sponsored  transparency  and  more  radical  
approaches  to  transparency  such  as  WikiLeaks  and  Edward  Snowden’s  whistleblowing.  We  
will  consider  whistleblowing  as  another  technique  for  revealing  secrets:  an  act  of  last  resort  
when  internal  reports  of  institutional  wrongdoing  have  been  ignored.  The  act  of  releasing  
institutional  secrets  to  the  press  in  order  to  institute  change  has  been  praised  by  some  
11
quarters  as  bravery  and  lambasted  by  others  as  betrayal.    Before  the  seminar,  you  must  
familiarise  yourself  with  the  different  leaks  WikiLeaks  has  been  involved  in,  and  Snowden’s  
revelations  concerning  NSA’s  Prism.  We  will  think  about  some  of  the  implications  of  these  
as  well  as  the  punitive  response  to  whistleblowing  by  the  Obama  Administration  –  one  
which  professes  to  be  on  the  side  of  openness.  
Key  Texts  
• Bok,  S.  (1984)  ‘Whistleblowing  and  Leaking,’  Secrets:  On  the  Ethics  of  Concealment  
and  Revelation,  Oxford  University  Press,  1984.  pp.210-­‐239.  
• Naughton,  J.  (2010)  Live  with  the  WikiLeakable  world  or  shut  down  the  net.  It’s  your  
choice.  Guardian,  6  December.  
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/dec/06/western-­‐
democracies-­‐must-­‐live-­‐with-­‐leaks  
• Greenwald,  G.  (2013)  ‘Kiriakou  and  Stuxnet:  the  danger  of  the  still-­‐escalating  Obama  
whistleblower  war,’  The  Guardian,  27  Jan.  
http://www.guardian.co.uk/profile/glenn-­‐greenwald  
 
Further  Reading  
WikiLeaks  and  Whistleblowing  
(The  story  behind  WikiLeaks  can  be  gleaned  from  more  journalistic  accounts  such  as  D.  
Leigh  &  L.  Harding,  WikiLeaks:  Inside  Julian  Assange’s  War  on  Secrecy  or  M.L.Sifrey,  
WikiLeaks  and  the  Age  of  Transparency.  There  are  also  some  good  documentaries  to  be  
found  online.)  
Greenberg,  A.  (2013)  This  machine  kills  secrets  :  Julian  Assange,  the  cypherpunks,  and  their  
fight  to  empower  whistleblowers,  Plume.  
Coleman  EG.  (2013)  ‘Anonymous  and  the  politics  of  leaking’.  in  Beyond  WikiLeaks:  
Implications  for  the  Future  of  Communications,  Journalism  and  Society,  ed.  B  Brevini,  A  Hintz,  
P  McCurdy,  pp.  209–28.  New  York:  Palgrave  Macmillan.  
Lovink,  G.  &  Riemens,  P.  (2010)  Ten  Theses  on  WikiLeaks.  Net  Critique.  
http://networkcultures.org/wpmu/geert/2010/08/30/ten-­‐theses-­‐on-­‐wikileaks/  
Roberts,  A.  (2011)  WikiLeaks:  The  Illusion  of  Transparency,  Suffolk  University  
Law  School  Research  Paper,  URL:  http://ssrn.com/Abstract=1801343  
Lovell,  A.  (2003)  The  Enduring  Phenomenon  of  Moral  Muteness.  Public  Integrity,  5  (3):  187-­‐
204.  
Brunton,  F.  (2011)  Keyspace:  WikiLeaks  and  the  Assange  Papers.  Radical  Philosophy,  166  
(Mar/Apr).  See  http://www.radicalphilosophy.com/commentary/keyspace-­‐wikileaks-­‐and-­‐
the-­‐assange-­‐papers  
Giri,  S.  (2010)  WikiLeaks  Beyond  WikiLeaks?  Mute,  16  Dec.  URL:  
http://www.metamute.org/en/articles/WikiLeaks_beyond_WikiLeaks  
Fenster,  M.  (2012)  Disclosure's  Effects:  WikiLeaks  and  Transparency.  Iowa  Law  Review,  97.  
URL:  http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1797945  
There  are  plenty  of  good  online  readings  about  WikiLeaks  at:  
http://liquidbooks.pbworks.com/w/page/39188133/Transparency%20and%20Secrecy  
 
Transparency  

12
Collins,  C.  (2007)  Seeing  Through  the  Dogma  of  ‘Transparency’.    Spiked,  7,  November,  
http://www.spiked-­‐online.com/index.php/site/reviewofbooks_article/4135/  
Garsten,  C.  and  M.L.  Montoya  (2008)  Introduction.  Transparency  in  a  New  Global  
Order:Unveiling  Organizational  Visions.  Cheltenham:  Edward  Elgar.  
Birchall,  C.  (2011)  “There’s  been  too  much  secrecy  in  this  city”:  The  false  choice  between  
secrecy  and  transparency  in  US  politics.  Cultural  Politics,  7  (1),  133-­‐56.  
Birchall,  C.  (2011)  The  Politics  of  Opacity  and  Openness.  Theory,  Culture  &  Society,  28  (7-­‐8),  
1-­‐19.  
Birkinshaw,  P.  (2006)  Transparency  as  a  Human  Right.  In  C.  Hood  &  D.  Heald  (Eds.)  
Transparency:  The  Key  to  Better  Governance?  Oxford:  Oxford  University  Press.  
Fung,  A.,  Graham,  M.  &  Weil,  D.  (2007).  Full  disclosure:  The  perils  and  promise  
of  transparency.  Cambridge:  Cambridge  University  Press.  
Strathern,  M.  (2000).  The  Tyranny  of  Transparency.  British  Educational  Research  Journal,  26  
(3),  310.    
Boyd,  D.  (2010)  Transparency  Is  Not  Enough.  Gov2.0  Expo.  Washington  DC,  May  26.  
http://www.danah.org/papers/talks/2010/Gov2Expo.html  ALSO  ON  YOUTUBE:  
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nNgXBIMass  
Florini,A.    (ed.)  (2007)  The  Right  to  Know:  Transparency  for  an  Open  World.  New  York:  
Columbia  University  Press.  
Graham,  M.  (2002)  Democracy  by  Disclosure:  the  Rise  of  Technopopulism.  Washington:  
Brookings  Institution  Press.  
Hood,  C.  (2006)  Transparency  in  Historical  Perspective.  In  C.  Hood  and  D.  Heald  (eds)  
Transparency:  The  Key  to  Better  Governance?  Oxford:  Oxford  University  Press.  pp.  3-­‐23  
Fenster,  M.  (2010)  Seeing  the  State:  Transparency  as  Metaphor.  Administrative  Law  Review,  
62  (3),  617-­‐72.  
Lathrop,  D.  and  L.  Ruma  (eds)  (2010)  Open  Government:  Collaboration,  Transparency,  and  
Participation  in  Practice.  Sebastopol,  CA:  O’Reilly  Media.  
Schmitt,  M.  (2010)  Transparency  for  What?  The  American  Prospect,  15  February,  
URL:  http://www.prospect.org/cs/articles?article=transparency_for_what  
Lessig,  L.  (2009)  Against  Transparency.  The  New  Republic,  October  9.  
http://www.tnr.com/print/article/books-­‐and-­‐arts/against-­‐transparency  
 
 

Week  10:  Popular  Revelation:  Conspiracy  Theory,  Gossip,  Scandal    

Staying  with  the  ‘other’  side  of  the  secret  –  that  of  disclosure  rather  than  concealment  –  we  
will  be  looking  at  various  popular  forms,  such  as  gossip,  conspiracy  theory,  and  scandal  that  
people  invoke  in  order  to  reveal  information  and  stories.  Why  do  these  forms  of  disclosure  
have  such  bad  reputations?  Does  transparency  really  circumvent  the  problems  these  more  
popular  forms  are  seen  to  encounter?  Will  a  more  transparent  government  really  lead  to  a  
reduction  of  conspiracy  theories,  gossip  and  scandal?  What  social  functions  might  the  latter  
serve?    

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Key  Texts  
• West,  H.  &  Sanders,  T.  (eds.)  (2003)  Power  Revealed  and  Concealed  in  the  New  
World  Order.  Transparency  and  Conspiracy:  Ethnographies  of  Suspicion  in  the  New  
World  Order.  Durham  &  London:  Duke  University  Press.  pp.  1-­‐37.    
• Comaroff,  J.  &  Comaroff,  J.  (2003)  Transparent  Fictions;  or  The  Conspiracies  of  a  
Liberal  Imagination:  An  Afterward.  In  West,  H.  &  Sanders,  T.  (eds.)  Transparency  and  
Conspiracy:  Ethnographies  of  Suspicion  in  the  New  World  Order.  Durham  &  London:  
Duke  University  Press.  pp.  287-­‐299.  
 
Further  Reading  
Gossip  
Bok,  S.  (1984)  Gossip.  Secrets:  On  the  Ethics  of  Concealment  and  Revelation.  Oxford  
University  Press,  1984.  pp.  89-­‐101.  
Turner,  P.  (1993).  I  Heard  it  Through  the  Grapevine:  Rumor  in  African-­‐American  Culture.  
Berkeley,  CA:  University  of  California  University  Press.  
Spacks,  P.  (1985).  Gossip.  Chicago  and  London:  University  of  Chicago  Press.    
R.  F.  Goodman  and  A.  Ben-­‐Ze’ev  (Eds.),  Good  Gossip  (pp.  139-­‐153).  Kansas:  University  of  
Kansas  Press.  
Conspiracy  Theories  
Olmsted,  K.S.  (2011)  Government  Secrecy  and  Conspiracy  Theories.  In  Maret,  S.  (ed.)  
Government  Secrecy.  Research  in  Social  Problems  and  Public  Policy  19.  Emerald.  pp.91-­‐100.  
Sunstein,  C.  &  Vermuele,  A.  (2008).  Conspiracy  Theories.  University  of  Chicago  Law  School  
Public  Law  &  Legal  Theory  Research  Paper  Series,  Paper  No.  199.  URL:  
http://ssrn.com/abstract=1084585  
Birchall,  C.  (2006)  Knowledge  Goes  Pop:  From  Conspiracy  Theory  to  Gossip.  Oxford:  Berg.  
Melley,  T.  (2000)  Empire  of  Conspiracy.  New  York:  Cornell  University  Press.  
Knight,  P.  (2000)  Conspiracy  Culture:  From  Kennedy  to  the  X-­‐Files.  London  and  New  York:  
Routledge.  
Wheen,  F.  (2004)  How  Mumbo-­‐jumbo  Conquered  the  World.  London,  Fourth  Estate.  
Scandal  
Adut,  A.  (2008).  On  scandal.  Cambridge:  Cambridge  University  Press.  
Lull,  J.  &  Hinerman,  S.  (Eds)  (1997)  Media  Scandals:  Morality  and  Desire  in  the  Popular  
Market  Place.  Cambridge:  Polity  Press.  
 

Week  11:  Secrecy  Now:  Us,  the  U.S.,  and  the  World  
This  will  be  our  final  session  and  the  one  where  we  try  to  bring  together  all  of  the  different  
strands  of  the  course.  To  do  so,  we  will  look  inwards  and  outwards.  In  other  words,  we  will  
both  take  a  self-­‐reflexive  approach  to  secrecy  to  ask  how  academic  work  and  cultural  
analysis  itself  resembles  the  revelation  of  textual  secrets;  and  also,  think  about  the  role  of  
secrets  and  secrecy  in  an  increasingly  globalised  world  which  relies  on  standards  of  
transparency.  What  is  at  stake,  academically,  personally,  nationally  and  globally,  when  we  
invest  in  secrets?  
 

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Key  Texts  
• Roberts,  A.S  (2006)  Blacked  Out:  Government  Secrecy  in  the  Information  Age.  New  
York:  Cambridge  University  Press.  pp.  231-­‐238.    
• Ahmed,  S.  (2010)  Secrets  and  Silence  in  Feminist  Research.  In  Ryan-­‐Flood,  R.  &  Gill,  
R.  Secrecy  and  Silence  in  the  Research  Process;  Feminist  Reflections.  London:  
Routledge.  pp.  xvi-­‐xxi.  

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