#secrecymachine. The Politics and Practices of Secrecy

In contemporary liberal democracies there is a polarisation between ideals of transparency – borne out in open government legislation, freedom of information, and confessionary culture – and what we might call a secret sphere, an institutionalised commitment to covert security operations that exist beyond the public view. In the wake of the Snowden revelations about the surveillance capabilities of intelligence agencies around the globe, an interdisciplinary symposium gathered experts to discuss the place and implications of secrecy in contemporary cultural politics. Speakers addressed what was politically, ethically, socially and ontologically at stake in cultures of secrecy at the individual, national, and international level. Recordings from the event were hidden across some of the darkest corners of the world wide web and were revealed to participants through a series of leaks and revelations starting on the 8th October 2015 at 12 Noon GMT. All of the leaks were revealed to the public on 9th October 2015 at 1102Hrs GMT. They are available as podcasts here: http://immersivestorylab.com/secret/leaks/

You can also download the materials from the symposium via a torrent. Distributing this will help our secrets remain permanently in the network. To use it please install a torrent client such as Bittorrent