The creation of 'a world after its own image': a genealogy of transparency

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dc.contributor.advisorBarnard-Naudé, Jacoen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorAdams, Rachel Margareten_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2017-08-28T13:12:53Z
dc.date.available2017-08-28T13:12:53Z
dc.date.issued2017en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThis thesis concerns the rise of transparency as a discursive fact of modern society. It seeks to understand both why and how the concept has come to be dominant within global neoliberal capitalism. From governments and political parties, to businesses and non-profit organisations, diverse institutions across the globe are embracing 'transparency'. Yet, despite its prominence, transparency remains vague and undefined, with scholarship largely devoted to expressing its merits and exploring ways to strengthen its practice. This has allowed transparency to gain its discursive power and, eventually, to become dominant. I turn to the work of Michel Foucault to problematise the transparency discourse with a view to unravel the effects of its discursive power. Through a Foucaultian critique, I come to read transparency as a depoliticising régime of truth ‒ one that is part and parcel of the Western will-to-power of neoliberalism, which excludes and, within this exclusion, contains, other realities. I identify transparency as an elusive and abstract metaphor, while defining it as a discursive practice of 'making visible'. My analysis follows the Foucaultian lines of archaeology, discourse, and governmentality, drawing these analytical strands together into a genealogy of transparency. The thesis notes the historical arrival of transparency within an ocularcentric episteme of the Western Enlightenment which privileges ideas of visibility ‒ an episteme from which neoliberalism also arises. I continue to trace the proselytisation of transparency upon the Global South, and its de-legitimisation of other forms of governance. The analysis then explores how transparency works within a dispositif (a relational field of power) of the current neoliberalist moment, creating a depoliticising illusion of a society that can be seen, known and understood. Further, I discuss how transparency is seeking to produce transparent subjects who are made visible to the disciplining powers of its discourse. In conclusion, my enquiry raises questions about an affinity between transparency and a hegemonic neo-colonial project to fashion a world in its own image: in the image of whiteness – a homogenous and de-politicised centre from which all else 'deviates'. Yet, I note a profound paradox at play. For transparency signals a marked absence, a paradoxical invisibility. Thus, as it seeks to create a world after its own image, it is in fact working towards its own inevitable unworking and absence.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationAdams, R. M. (2017). <i>The creation of 'a world after its own image': a genealogy of transparency</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Law ,Department of Private Law. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24993en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationAdams, Rachel Margaret. <i>"The creation of 'a world after its own image': a genealogy of transparency."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Law ,Department of Private Law, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24993en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationAdams, R. 2017. The creation of 'a world after its own image': a genealogy of transparency. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Adams, Rachel Margaret AB - This thesis concerns the rise of transparency as a discursive fact of modern society. It seeks to understand both why and how the concept has come to be dominant within global neoliberal capitalism. From governments and political parties, to businesses and non-profit organisations, diverse institutions across the globe are embracing 'transparency'. Yet, despite its prominence, transparency remains vague and undefined, with scholarship largely devoted to expressing its merits and exploring ways to strengthen its practice. This has allowed transparency to gain its discursive power and, eventually, to become dominant. I turn to the work of Michel Foucault to problematise the transparency discourse with a view to unravel the effects of its discursive power. Through a Foucaultian critique, I come to read transparency as a depoliticising régime of truth ‒ one that is part and parcel of the Western will-to-power of neoliberalism, which excludes and, within this exclusion, contains, other realities. I identify transparency as an elusive and abstract metaphor, while defining it as a discursive practice of 'making visible'. My analysis follows the Foucaultian lines of archaeology, discourse, and governmentality, drawing these analytical strands together into a genealogy of transparency. The thesis notes the historical arrival of transparency within an ocularcentric episteme of the Western Enlightenment which privileges ideas of visibility ‒ an episteme from which neoliberalism also arises. I continue to trace the proselytisation of transparency upon the Global South, and its de-legitimisation of other forms of governance. The analysis then explores how transparency works within a dispositif (a relational field of power) of the current neoliberalist moment, creating a depoliticising illusion of a society that can be seen, known and understood. Further, I discuss how transparency is seeking to produce transparent subjects who are made visible to the disciplining powers of its discourse. In conclusion, my enquiry raises questions about an affinity between transparency and a hegemonic neo-colonial project to fashion a world in its own image: in the image of whiteness – a homogenous and de-politicised centre from which all else 'deviates'. Yet, I note a profound paradox at play. For transparency signals a marked absence, a paradoxical invisibility. Thus, as it seeks to create a world after its own image, it is in fact working towards its own inevitable unworking and absence. DA - 2017 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2017 T1 - The creation of 'a world after its own image': a genealogy of transparency TI - The creation of 'a world after its own image': a genealogy of transparency UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24993 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/24993
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationAdams RM. The creation of 'a world after its own image': a genealogy of transparency. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Law ,Department of Private Law, 2017 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/24993en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Private Lawen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Lawen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherPrivate Lawen_ZA
dc.titleThe creation of 'a world after its own image': a genealogy of transparencyen_ZA
dc.typeDoctoral Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoral
dc.type.qualificationnamePhDen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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