ABSTRACT
Informal investigative networks have uncovered classified information in the form of the Panama Papers and the WikiLeaks cables, and are even engaging in open source intelligence, thereby contesting the power of those in possession of information and laying bare the communications that are vital to the exercise of that power. As a universal element in human societies, information-power relationships at different times and in different places lead us to question the self-evident nature of information regimes and practices. T. Weller argues that information is essentially heterogeneous, dynamic, multifaceted, and diverse, so as not to exclude the historical analysis of ‘knowledge’, ‘wisdom’, or ‘understanding’. Weller postulates that power, too, is a contested concept, because there are so many types of power, manifest in different forms, contexts, and relations. Jeremy Black and Bonnie Mak likewise refrain from defining ‘power’, but refer to associated concepts, such as authority, control, oversight, and resistance.
