Una serie de ‘Laboratorios Cali’ destinada a determinar el rango de respuestas a la pregunta ‘¿qué quiere que sea Cali?’, seguida por la construcción de escenarios en donde las diversas visiones se puedan exponer, junto con la transición potencial y los imaginarios de diseño especulativo desarrollados por el equipo de co-diseño —para que cada vez más gente juegue con la idea de Cali como un espacio verdaderamente acogedor para vivir y no como una máquina de insostenibilidad—.

la invención de algo llamado ‘la economía’ como un dominio independiente de pensamiento y acción ligado a otra poderosa ficción, el mercado autorregulador —con la ciencia económica supuestamente a cargo de decirnos la verdad al respecto—.9 Aunque es posible que la economía neoliberal haya sido sacudida hasta la médula por la crisis financiera de 2007-2008, el imaginario económico en términos de individuos que realizan transacciones en los mercados, la producción, el crecimiento ilimitado, el capital, el progreso, la escasez y el consumo continúa sin obstáculos. Co

BoletteBlaagaard,forexample,arguesthatthecontributionofcitizenjournalismhasbeentochallengetheostensibleobjectivityofprofessionaljournalism.[4]Shearguesthatincreatingajournalisticobjectivity,professionaljournalismportrayedaknowingsubjectthatisdetached,unemotional,neutral,unbiased,andindependent.Bycontrast,citizenjournalism’scontributionhasbeentodemonstratethatpassionate,attached,affective,andbiasedyetfairreportingcanresultfromjournalisticsubjectivity

consentdoesnotmeancitizensubjectscontroltheirindividualdigitaltracesorcaneverfullybeawareofwhattheirconsentunleashes.Unknownarethedispersedsiteswheretheirtracesmaytravelorbeaggregatedandthepurposesforwhichtheymaybeanalysed.Thecirculationofdigitaltracesisextensive,andratherthanregulating,consentinvolvestheregularizing,authorizing,andnormalizingofthetrackingandcirculationofthedigitaltracesofcitizensubjects

However,evenwhenconsensuallyinstalled,usersrarelyunderstandhowspywareworksandoftenforgetaboutitspresence.[50]Cookiesarethemostpervasiveform.Theyarebitsofdatastoredondevicesandsenttobrowsersbywebsitesthatarevisitedorthroughtechniqueslike‘devicefingerprinting’,whichenableswatchingsubjectswhodeleteordonotstorecookies.[51]Theyareusednotonlyformonitoringdigitalactionsbutalsofortrackingpreferredlanguage,login,andotherpersonalsettingssuchassearchpreferencesandfortargetingadvertisingandtrackingnumbersofvisitstosites.[52]Digitaltracespickedupbycookieshavealsobeenrepurposedbysecurityagencies,suchastheNSA’sutilizationofGoogle’sadvertisingcookiestotracktargets.

Onlywhentrackinginvolvesdatafying(theprocessofrenderinganaction,attribute,orathingintoaquantifiedanddigitalform)canitbedigitallyanalysed.

digitaltracesalsogetcirculatedandrepurposedandinthisregardhavesociallivesbeyondthefeedbackloopsoftheirplatforms.[28]Thus,notonlyistrackingincipienttothefunctioningofspecificconventions,butthedatageneratedhasextensitysuchthatitcantravelbeyondandbetweenconventions.

Thatthesedemandshaveemergedinthespanofonlyafewyearsatteststowhatwecallthe‘closings’ofcyberspace.ThesedemandsandtheirclosingsareeffectsofthewayinwhichactingthroughtheInternethasresignifiedquestionsofvelocity,extensity,anonymity,andtraceability.Velocitycallsforregularandongoingvigilanceaboutrapidlychangingtechnologies,protocols,practices,platforms,andrulesaboutbeingdigital;extensitycallsforawarenessofwhereandtowhomdigitalactionsreach;anonymitycallsforlimitingandprotectingexposureandbeingcautiousaboutthepresumedidentitiesofothers;andtraceabilitycallsformanaginghowactionsaretracked,analysed,manipulated,andsortedbyunknownothersandforunknowablepurposes.Allofthesedemandsspringnotfromparticipating,connecting,andsharingalonebuttherelationsbetweenandamongbodiesactingthroughtheInternet,whichismadeupofconventionsconfiguredbytheactionsofdispersedanddistributedauthorities.Itistotheseconfiguringactions,whichwecalltheclosingsofcyberspace,thatweturntointhenextchapter,withafocusonfiltering,tracking,andnormalizing.

Actsofconnectingrespondtoacallingthatpersistseveninlightofthetraceabilityofdigitalactionsandconcernsaboutprivacy.Thosewhoaremakingrightsclaimstoprivacyanddataownershiparebyfaroutnumberedbythosewhocontinuetosharedatawithoutconcern.Thatadatatraceisamaterialthatcanbemined,shared,analysed,andacteduponbynumerouspeoplemakestheimaginaryofopennessvulnerabletooftenunknownorunforeseeableacts.Butdigitaltracesalsointroduceanothertension.Anothercalling,thatofsharingdigitalcontentandtraces,isademandthatevokestheimaginaryofopennessfundamentaltotheveryarchitectureofsharedresourcesandgifteconomythatformedtheonce-dominantlogicofcyberspace

Itiswellnighimpossibletomakedigitalutteranceswithoutatrace;onthecontrary,oftentheforceofadigitalspeechactdrawsitsstrengthfromthetracesthatitleaves.Aswesaidinchapter2,eachofthesequestionsraisedbydigitalactscanarguablybefoundinothertechnologiesofspeechacts—thetelegraph,megaphone,radio,andtelephonecometomindimmediately.Butitiswhentakentogetherthatwethinkdigitalactsresignifythesequestionsandcombinetomakethemdistinctfromspeechacts,intermsofboththeconventionsbywhichtheybecomepossibleandtheeffectsthattheyproduce.

Ifwedistinguishprivacyfromanonymity,werealizethatanonymityontheInternethasspawnedanewpoliticaldevelopment.Ifprivacyistherighttodeterminewhatonedecidestokeeptoherselfandwhattosharepublicly,anonymityconcernstherighttoactwithoutbeingidentified.ThesecondconcernsthevelocityofactingthroughtheInternet.Forbetterorforworse,itisalmostpossibletoperformanactontheInternetfasterthanonecanthink.ThethirdconcernstheextensityofactingthroughtheInternet.ThenumberofaddresseesanddestinationsthatarepossibleforactingthroughtheInternetisstaggering.So,too,aretheboundaries,borders,andjurisdictionsthatanactcantraverse.Thefourthconcernstraceability.IfitisperformedontheInternet,anactcanbetracedinwaysthatarepracticallyimpossibleoutsidetheInternet.Takentogether,anonymity,velocity,extensity,andtraceabilityarequestionsthatareresignifiedbybodiesactingthroughtheInternet

The replacement of FOIA requests by open data is still touted by data platforms such as Socrata as a savings of labor and money (Quigg, 2014). Participants in civic data hackathons conceptually connect open data with accountability, to “keep city hall honest” as one participant put it.

Yet, the natural equating of “openness” or government transparency (Hood and Heald, 2006) with accountability increasingly became dubious (Tkacz, 2012). The move to “open data” was often an imperative that didn’t make clear where the levers were for social change that benefited citizens (Lessig, 2009). Still, I argue that civic hackers are often uniquely positioned to act on issues of public concern; they are in touch with local communities, with technical skills and, in many cases, institutional and legal literacies. I conclude by connecting the open data movement with a specific set of political tactics—requesting, digesting, contributing, modeling, and contesting data.