ABSTRACT
Considering the omnipresence and specific ambivalences of transparency in public and scientific debates, the chapter drafts the development of transparency in society as a problem and as a challenge and provides a short overview of the treatment of transparency and transparency research in different disciplines. Based on the assumption that transparency has become an essential factor in social and cultural transformations, the chapter introduces the heuristic concept of transparency cultures. This concept can serve as a first orientation in the development of mutually reinforcing and integrated multidisciplinary approaches to the study of transparency. Finally, the chapter introduces the contributions of the volume that stem from an international conference that took place in 2018 in Berlin as a part of the prestigious Herrenhausen Conferences supported by the Volkswagen Foundation.
