Secrecy, Power and Ignorance research Network

SPIN is a collaborative initiative between researchers based at the University of Bath, University of Bristol, Cardiff University, and the University of Exeter with members of the network across the UK, the Netherlands, France, Mexico, the US and Canada. SPIN research focuses on the power and politics of secrecy and ignorance – at the global, international, state, societal and personal level.

With revelations associated with the War on Terror and the #metoo movement, obfuscations surrounding the climate crisis, calls for transparency and ‘open societies’, new technological developments (including ‘deep fakes’ and cyberthreats), the re-emergence of discourses of ‘fake news’, the deepening of conspiracy cultures, along with the ongoing struggles of marginalised communities to be recognised or acknowledged have resulted in an increased need to understand the political and social dimensions of secrecy and ignorance.