Anonymous

Description

A rich sociological analysis of how and why we use anonymity.  
In recent years, anonymity has rocked the political and social landscape. There are countless examples: An anonymous whistleblower was at the heart of President Trump’s first impeachment, the hacker group Anonymous compromised more than 77 million Sony accounts, and best-selling author Elena Ferrante resolutely continued to hide her real name and identity. In Anonymous, Thomas DeGloma draws on a fascinating set of contemporary and historical cases to build a sociological theory that accounts for the many faces of anonymity. He asks a number of pressing questions about the social conditions and effects of anonymity. What is anonymity, and why, under various circumstances, do individuals act anonymously? How do individuals accomplish anonymity? How do they use it, and, in some situations, how is it imposed on them?
 
To answer these questions, DeGloma tackles anonymity thematically, dedicating each chapter to a distinct type of anonymous action, including ones he dubs protective, subversive, institutional, and ascribed. Ultimately, he argues that anonymity and pseudonymity are best understood as performances, in which people obscure personal identities as they make meaning for various audiences. As they bring anonymity and pseudonymity to life, DeGloma shows, people work to define the world around them to achieve different goals and objectives.
  Thomas DeGloma is associate professor of sociology at Hunter College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York. He is the author of Seeing the Light: The Social Logic of Personal Discovery and coeditor of Interpreting Contentious Memory: Countermemories and Social Conflicts Over the Past and The Oxford Handbook of Symbolic Interactionism. Chapter 1. Anonymous Acts The Social Dynamics of Anonymous Acts
Naming, Namelessness, and Pseudo-Names
Freedom and Constraint in the Breach of Personal Identity 
The Exhibitionist and the Voyeur: Anonymity and Information Control 
Impersonal Agencies: Someone, Anyone, Everyone, and No One 
Culture and Meaning in the Performance of Anonymity 
Outline of the Book 
Chapter 2. Protective Anonymity  Concealed Authorship and the Performance of Elena Ferrante
Social Ethics of Anonymity
Anonymous Altruism and Charity
The Screened Confession and the Masquerade
The Impartiality of Impersonality and the Performance of Academic Evaluation 
Anonymous Communities and Forums
Anonymous Therapeutics and the Case of Alcoholics Anonymous
Computer-Mediated Anonymous Forums
Anonymous Consumption and Exchange
Exploiting Protective Anonymity
Chapter 3. Subversive Anonymity Subversive Art and Literature 
Masked Social Movements and Anonymous Rebellion 
The Religious, Theatrical, and Festive Roots of Masked Social Protest 
Masked Movements and Their Subversive World Orders 
The Anonymous Performances of Ku Klux Klan Terror 
Performing the Digital Guerrilla Insurgency: The Hacker Networks of Anonymous 
The Klan and Anonymous: Shared Characteristics of Subversive Anonymity 
FBI Counterintelligence and the Anonymous Subversion of Subversive Activity 
Chapter 4. The Anonymity of Social Systems  Institutions and Systems as Cover Representations 
Wall Street and the Financial Crisis 
Corporate Personhood and Electoral Politics 
The NSA, Big Tech, and Electronic Surveillance 
Distance Killing and the Nation at War
The Modern State as “Humane” Executioner 
Anonymous Labor and Systems of Production
Chapter 5. The Anonymity of Types and Categories  Typification and Social Performance
Anonymous Others in Situated Encounters 
The Anonymity of Class and Occupation 
Anonymous Sex 
Racial Typification, Law Enforcement, and Police Violence 
Cisgaender Typification and the Segregation of Public Restrooms 
Analytic Typifications 
Chapter 6. The Social Contradictions of Our Hidden Identities  Unmasking Acts 
Acknowledgments 
Notes 
References
Index 

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