Anonymous: The Performance of Hidden Identities

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, an anonymous group of hackers 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.  

Table of Contents:
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 

About the Author :
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.

Review :
“Anonymous does what sociology does best: to take a concept (in this case anonymity and pseudonymity) and explore it as a performative practice, a practice of sociality, and as linked to institutional structures. This book is a major addition to the sociological canon.” "Attention must be paid! In this performance, grounded in the traditions of symbolic interaction, Thomas DeGloma has produced a foundational book for an emerging field, a field  badly in need of one. As digital technologies continue to alter the, meaning, discovery, hiding and validation of identity, understanding anonymity and its’ extended family (e.g. pseudonymity, pseudo-anonymity, secrecy, privacy, surveillance and so much more), is ever more important. The book’s useful concepts bring coherence and integration to a plentitude of engaging empirical examples across cultures and time periods. Most welcome!"   "DeGloma's book is a masterful work of scholarship, creative, and wry, identifying the formal characteristics of interactions that link many different areas of social action. . . . a conceptually and empirically engrossing and delightful read. . . Anonymous takes us on a perspective-bending ride, revealing what was hiding in plain sight." "... an ambitious, original, well-written, and well-researched study in which [DeGloma] shines a new sociological light on anonymity."