Transparency in Global Change

The Vanguard of the Open Society

Burkart Holzner, Leslie Holzner

• Publisher: University of Pittsburgh Press
• Year: 2010
• eBook ISBN: 9780822972877
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

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 Based on current events and historical references in literature and the social sciences, Transparency in Global Change focuses on the turning points of information cultures, such as scandals, that lead to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.

Table of contents

• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• 1. The Culture Shift to Transparency
• 2. The Rise of Transparency: Some Historical Turning Points
• 3. Perspectives on Transparency: Linking Several Fields of Knowledge to One Social Fact
• 4. Information Cultures in Transformation: The Secrecy and the Transparency Syndromes in Global Change
• 5. Transparency in the World
• 6. Global Civil Society, Transparency, and Social System Change
• 7. Corporate Governance and Transparency: From Exuberance to Scandals to Reform
• 8. The Changing Architecture of Information Values in Health Systems
• 9. Historical Transparency
• 10. Global Change and the Open Society
• Notes
• List of Consultations
• Index