IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/cog/socinc/v13y2025a8876.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

From Criminal to Crucial Participation: The Case of Dutch Volunteer Hackers

Author

Listed:
  • Anne Marte Gardenier

    (Department of Industrial Engineering and Innovation Sciences, Eindhoven University of Technology, The Netherlands)

Abstract

Since the 1980s, Dutch volunteer hackers have been identifying and disclosing vulnerabilities in computer systems. Initially criminalized, these hackers now play a crucial role in Dutch cybersecurity governance. This article explores the transformation of hackers from criminals to crucial participants and examines what this case reveals about citizen participation in the digital age. The case study demonstrates that citizens can play a pivotal role in addressing challenges posed by digitization, although their contributions can remain unrecognized and constrained by hostile institutions. This article aims to deepen the understanding of various forms of citizen participation in digital society, how institutions can support or constrain them, and how citizens play a central role in shaping these institutions to legitimize their participation.

Suggested Citation

  • Anne Marte Gardenier, 2025. "From Criminal to Crucial Participation: The Case of Dutch Volunteer Hackers," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 13.
    • Handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v13:y:2025:a:8876
    DOI: 10.17645/si.8876
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.cogitatiopress.com/socialinclusion/article/view/8876
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.17645/si.8876?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:cog:socinc:v13:y:2025:a:8876. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: António Vieira or IT Department (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.cogitatiopress.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.