The Rhetoric of Transparency and its Reality: Transparent Territories, Opaque Power and Empowerment

Abstract

This paper examines the purported links between transparency, citizens’ participation and empowerment through a focus on the governance of spatial information in Indian cities. It suggests that the data transparency paradigm need to be critically examined as the effects of data visibility and mobility differ according to the nature of information disclosed and conflicts surrounding it. Both information and technology that supports it visibility are embedded in power relations. Three themes are eloborated in the paper namely, the continued difficulty with retreiving information on land and territory;  the complexities involved in capturing and representing accurately the dynamics of territory use and ownership claims and the emerging governmentality relating to spatial governance that renders power opaque.