Gabriella Coleman: Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous (2014)
Filed under book | Tags: · activism, anonymous, anthropology, ddos, free speech, hacker culture, hacking, hacktivism, internet, internet culture, irc, lulzsec, politics, security, tactics, twitter, web, wikileaks
“A book on the worldwide movement of hackers, pranksters, and activists that operates under the non-name Anonymous.
Half a dozen years ago, anthropologist Gabriella Coleman set out to study the rise of this global phenomenon just as some of its members were turning to political protest and disruption (before Anonymous emerged as a player in the battles over WikiLeaks, the Arab Spring, and Occupy Wall Street). She ended up becoming closely connected to Anonymous and the story of her inside-outside status as Anon confidante, interpreter, and erstwhile mouthpiece forms one of the themes of this engrossing book.
The narrative brims with details unearthed from within a notoriously mysterious subculture, whose best-known tricksters – such as Topiary, tflow, Anachaos, and Sabu – emerge as complex, diverse, politically and culturally sophisticated people. Propelled by years of chats and encounters with a multitude of hackers, including imprisoned activist Jeremy Hammond and the double agent who helped put him away, Hector Monsegur, Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy is filled with insights about digital activism and little understood facets of culture in the Internet age, including the history of “trolling,” the ethics and metaphysics of hacking, and the origins and manifold meanings of “the lulz.””
Publisher Verso Books, London and New York, November 2014
Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license
ISBN 1781685835, 9781781685839
452 pages
via Marcell
Reviews: Astra Taylor (Bookforum, 2014), Jamie Bartlett (Guardian, 2014), Hannah Kuchler (Financial Times, 2014), David Gilbert (IB Business Times, 2014), Haley Mlotek (National Post, 2014), Publishers Weekly (2014), Kirkus Reviews (2014), Nathalie Maréchal (Int’l J of Communication, 2015), Maxigas (Krisis, 2015).
Commentary: João Biehl & Naomi Zucker, Haidy Geismar, Adam Fish & Luca Follis, Tom Boellstorff, Gabriella Coleman (J Ethnographic Theory book symposium, 2015).
Debate with Gabriella Coleman, Cory Doctorow and James Bridle, London, 4 Nov
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