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Chapter Summary
The topic of Chapter 11 is surveillance and how it has become a central concern of our digital age. The goal of this chapter is to define the multifaceted term by contrasting different perspectives available in the literature. The chapter then provides an overview of the concept and architecture of the Panopticon and its means of exerting control and imposing disciplinary action. The chapter discusses the new modes of surveillance made possible by recent technological developments, which show how technologies have changed not only the practices of surveillance but also the very nature of surveillance, reducing individuals’ privacy rights to a large extent. We end the chapter with a discussion of innovative methods of counter-surveillance that aim at increasing awareness of the pervasiveness of surveillance in our society and provide means for personal resistance.
Learning Objectives
In this chapter, you should learn to do the following:
- to define surveillance as a multifaceted term with great relevance to the information society;
- to examine Foucault’s analysis of power relations in society and to provide an overview of the concept and architecture of the Panopticon and its means of control;
- to discuss how personal information circulates in social media environments like Facebook and the ways in which this circulation is changing our understanding of private and public space;
- to present models of counter-surveillance and sousveillance as a means of both personal and grassroots resistance against surveillance practices.