Paper 2024/1602 Original: eprint.iacr.org/2024/1602 ↗

Cryptography and Collective Power

Abstract

This paper continues the conversation of "What Happened to the Crypto Dream?" (Narayanan 2013), "The Moral Character of Cryptographic Work" (Rogaway 2015), and "Crypto for the People" (Kamara 2020) by examining the relationship between cryptography and collective power. In particular, it considers cryptography in the context of grassroots organizing---a process by which marginalized people build collective power toward effecting systemic change---and illustrates the ways in which cryptography has both helped and hindered organizing efforts. Based on the synthesis of dozens of qualitative studies, scholarly critiques, and historical artifacts, this work introduces a paradigm shift for cryptographic protocol design---general principles and recommendations for building cryptography to address the lived needs and experiences of marginalized people. Finally, it calls for abolition cryptography: cryptographic theories and practices which dismantle harmful systems and replace them with systems that sustain human lives and livelihoods.