1. “SEEING THROUGH A GLASS, DARKLY”The Transparency ParadoxEmmanuel AlloaPART I - POLITICS2. IN DEFENSE OF TRANSPARENCYPhilippe Van Parijs3. THE USES AND ABUSES OF TRANSPARENCYDavid Heald4. THE POLITICAL IMPERATIVE OF TRANSPARENCYIts Grounds and LimitsDorota Mokrosinska5. FEEDState Transparency amidst Informational SurplusMark Fenster6. ALGORITHMIC TRANSPARENCYOn the Rise of a New Normative Ideal and Its Silenced Performative ImplicationsLoup Cellard7. TRANSPARENCY, PUBLICITY, SECRECY AND MENDACITYFour Shades of Political VisibilityJohn Pitseys8. WHY TRANSPARENCY HAS LITTLE (IF ANYTHING) TO DO WITH THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENTEmmanuel Alloa9. THE CONFESSING ANIMALFoucault and ChristianityPatrick VandermeerschPART II - AESTHETICS10. COMMUNICATION, MANIPULATION, SEDUCTIONThe Pragmatics of TransparencyHerman Parret11. TRANSPARENCY AND OBSTACLE IN ARCHITECTUREFrom Le Corbusier to Rem KoolhaasChristophe Van Gerrewey12. TROPPO VERO!Opacity, Density, Noise and Thickness of ImagesVlad Ionescu13. THE LAYERED IMAGETransparency, Time and Memory in ProustSara Guindani14. WITH HIDDEN NOISEThe Rattle of Marcel DuchampBart Verschaffel15. THROUGH THE WINDOW OR BEYOND THE MIRRORThe Phantasmagorias of Transparency and Reflexiveness in Film Natacha Pfeiffer16. MESSAGES ON GLASSTransparency in Times of COVID-19Riccardo DonatiNOTES ON CONTRIBUTORSThe paradoxical logic of transparency and mediationTransparency is the metaphor of our time. Whether in government or corporate governance, finance, technology, health or the media – it is ubiquitous today, and there is hardly a current debate that does not call for more transparency. But what does this word actually stand for and what are the consequences for the life of individuals? Can knowledge from the arts, and its play of visibility and invisibility, tell us something about the paradoxical logics of transparency and mediation? This Obscure Thing Called Transparency gathers contributions by international experts who critically assess the promises and perils of transparency today.Transparency is the metaphor of our time. Whether in government or corporate governance, finance, technology, health or the media – it is ubiquitous today, and there is hardly a current debate that does not call for more transparency. But what does this word actually stand for and what are the consequences for the life of individuals? Can knowledge from the arts, and its play of visibility and invisibility, tell us something about the paradoxical logics of transparency and mediation? This Obscure Thing Called Transparency gathers contributions by international experts who critically assess the promises and perils of transparency today.