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Short Blacks
Cypherpunk Revolutionary: On Julian Assange
There are few original ideas in politics. In the creation of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange was responsible for one.
This essay reveals the making of Julian Assange – both his ideas and his world-changing actions. Robert Manne explores Assange's unruly childhood and then his involvement with the revolutionary cypherpunk underground, all the way through to the creation of WikiLeaks. Pulling together the threads of his development, Manne shows how Assange became one of the most influential Australians of our time.
This essay reveals the making of Julian Assange – both his ideas and his world-changing actions. Robert Manne explores Assange's unruly childhood and then his involvement with the revolutionary cypherpunk underground, all the way through to the creation of WikiLeaks. Pulling together the threads of his development, Manne shows how Assange became one of the most influential Australians of our time.
64 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2015
About the author
Robert Manne
33 books16 followersRobert Manne is emeritus professor of politics at La Trobe University. His recent books include On Borrowed Time, Making Trouble: Essays Against the New Complacency, and The Words that Made Australia (as co-editor). He has written three Quarterly Essays and is a regular contributor to the Monthly and the Guardian.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 18, 2020
“There are few original ideas in politics. In the creation of WikiLeaks, Julian Assange was responsible for one.”
A fascinating and well-researched essay that explores Julian Assange’s life up to the creation of WikiLeaks and his political and philosophical motivations. I knew nothing about the cypherpunk movement, so it was interesting to read about that. This essay also briefly touches on conspiracy theories and how they can be effectively spread, which is particularly intriguing in 2020 (the essay was written in 2011).
All-in-all, I think this should be required reading for anyone interested in Assange and WikiLeaks. I’d love Manne to write another essay on the events in the nearly 10 years that have elapsed since this one was published.
A fascinating and well-researched essay that explores Julian Assange’s life up to the creation of WikiLeaks and his political and philosophical motivations. I knew nothing about the cypherpunk movement, so it was interesting to read about that. This essay also briefly touches on conspiracy theories and how they can be effectively spread, which is particularly intriguing in 2020 (the essay was written in 2011).
All-in-all, I think this should be required reading for anyone interested in Assange and WikiLeaks. I’d love Manne to write another essay on the events in the nearly 10 years that have elapsed since this one was published.
August 13, 2016
This is an gripping and seemingly well-researched summary of Assange's background and political theories, giving some insight into his personality and motives. The essay's strength is in its nuanced analysis of where Assange sits in relation to other cyber-libertarians. Its weakness is in the comparison between Assange's later theories and May's "politics of assassination" - beyond being revolutionary and dependent on encryption technology, I wasn't persuaded that the two ideas have much in common. Nevertheless, this is a great read and demonstrates how the digital era could fundamentally transform democracy.
July 10, 2024
Written back in 2011 but still useful today for learning about Julian Assange's early life and career - why he is a revolutionary and how he came to leak pentagon secrets through his creation (wikileaks).
A very short and well written book. A good introduction to the subject.
A very short and well written book. A good introduction to the subject.
June 23, 2020
A good little intro to a name we all know; but one I didn't know enough about, clearly! It has also grabbed my interest to look into the 'cypherpunk' sub culture.
November 30, 2016
Robert Manne presents a well-researched and captivating perspective on one of the most influential characters of the 21st century. Assange's background and formative years as a member of the cypherpunk sub-culture provides the reader with crucial information that helps to place Assange on the socio-political Cartesian plane. It is also refreshing to be able to imagine Assange as a yearning and to some extent aimless young man, and in this regard Manne succeeds to do what biographical narratives are supposed to do - narrow the social gap between the subject and the reader. Where Manne's shortcoming lies is towards the end of the essay where he assumes that the reader is up-to-date on the latest developments of Assange's life and consequently speeds through important details about Assange's asylum and the allegations made against him.
Manne creates a link between Assange and the Libertarian-inspired cypherpunks Tim C. May and Jim Bell. Some might not be convinced by the corollary that Manne draws between WikiLeaks and May and Bell's ultra Objectivist idea to have assassinations markets. For May and Bell, and perhaps to some extent for Assange, political accountability could only be secured at the extreme. Citizens would contribute to a lottery fund for the assassination of certain government officials, and the prize would be awarded to the person who correctly "predicted" the date of the death. Clearly, the winner would be the assassin, whose anonymity would be ensured through the use of public-key cryptography, remailers and digital currency. In this manner, politicians and other power-wielders would be kept in check and cautious, returning power to the people. Manne argues that, in establishing WikiLeaks, Assange drew inspiration from this brutal and anarchic model of political accountability. WikiLeaks in effect creates a similar threat of assassination, albeit political, by thwarting the government's monopoly over information flows. It is in interesting theory that Manne puts forward, but ultimately a question for Assange himself. On a tangential note, it is noteworthy to state the fascinating similarities between this theory of political accountability through assassination and William J. Baumol's economic theory of contestable markets (see Contestable Markets And The Theory Of Industry Structure).
Cypherpunk Revolutionary: On Julian Assange is a gripping introductory read about one of the most influential and certainly the most uncharacteristic Australian of our generation. Manne does well to draw the reader to the intricacies in Assange's character, but unfortunately does not provide a comprehensive account.
Manne creates a link between Assange and the Libertarian-inspired cypherpunks Tim C. May and Jim Bell. Some might not be convinced by the corollary that Manne draws between WikiLeaks and May and Bell's ultra Objectivist idea to have assassinations markets. For May and Bell, and perhaps to some extent for Assange, political accountability could only be secured at the extreme. Citizens would contribute to a lottery fund for the assassination of certain government officials, and the prize would be awarded to the person who correctly "predicted" the date of the death. Clearly, the winner would be the assassin, whose anonymity would be ensured through the use of public-key cryptography, remailers and digital currency. In this manner, politicians and other power-wielders would be kept in check and cautious, returning power to the people. Manne argues that, in establishing WikiLeaks, Assange drew inspiration from this brutal and anarchic model of political accountability. WikiLeaks in effect creates a similar threat of assassination, albeit political, by thwarting the government's monopoly over information flows. It is in interesting theory that Manne puts forward, but ultimately a question for Assange himself. On a tangential note, it is noteworthy to state the fascinating similarities between this theory of political accountability through assassination and William J. Baumol's economic theory of contestable markets (see Contestable Markets And The Theory Of Industry Structure).
Cypherpunk Revolutionary: On Julian Assange is a gripping introductory read about one of the most influential and certainly the most uncharacteristic Australian of our generation. Manne does well to draw the reader to the intricacies in Assange's character, but unfortunately does not provide a comprehensive account.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews