Thursday 20 October 2011

Towards an Alternative Concept of Privacy

an article by Christian Fuchs (Uppsala University) published in Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society Volume 9 Issue 4 (2011)

Abstract

Purpose
There are a lot of discussions about privacy in relation to contemporary communication systems (such as Facebook and other “social media” platforms), but discussions about privacy on the Internet in most cases misses a profound understanding of the notion of privacy and where this notion is coming from. This paper challenges the liberal notion of privacy and explores foundations of an alternative privacy conception.
Design/methodology/approach
A typology of privacy definitions is elaborated based on Giddens’ theory of structuration. The concept of privacy fetishism that is based on critical political economy is introduced. Limits of the liberal concept of privacy are discussed. This discussion is connected to the theories of Marx, Arendt and Habermas. Some foundations of an alternative privacy concept are outlined.
Findings
The notion of privacy fetishism is introduced for criticising naturalistic accounts of privacy. Marx and Engels have advanced four elements of the critique of the liberal privacy concept that were partly taken up by Arendt and Habermas:
  1. privacy as atomism that advances
  2. possessive individualism that harms the public good and
  3. legitimises and reproduces the capitalist class structure and
  4. capitalist patriarchy.
Research limitations/implications
Given the criticisms advanced in this paper, the need for an alternative, socialist privacy concept is ascertained and it is argued that privacy rights should be differentiated according to the position individuals occupy in the power structure so that surveillance makes transparent wealth and income gaps and company’s profits and privacy protects workers and consumers from capitalist domination.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the establishment of a concept of privacy that is grounded in critical political economy. Due to the liberal bias of the privacy concept, the theorisation of privacy has thus far been largely ignored in critical political economy. The paper contributes to illuminating this blind spot.


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