Surveillance is common in modern society, with individuals subject to many forms of data collection and monitoring in everyday life. Many of these forms are through information and communications technologies (ICTs), which hold an ever increasing place in modern living. To understand this trend, surveillance theories have shifted from Foucauldian influenced panoptic surveillance towards post-panoptic approaches. However, there is little consideration given to the individual's experience of surveillance within these theories. This is problematic, as in order to sufficiently address the implications of surveillance, the individual’s experience of surveillance must be considered (Friesen, Chung and Feenberg 2006). This article explores the panoptic and post-panoptic approaches to surveillance, and the ways in which ICT surveillance is integrated into everyday life, and highlights how there is a gap in surveillance studies literature regarding how the individual experiences surveillance. More recent post-panoptic approaches such as the surveillant assemblage (Haggerty and Ericson 2000) are identified as holding few additional contributions to this gap. Instead, it is Foucault’s writings that are more insightful, despite being sometime dismissed in surveillance studies. The article concludes by suggesting that a greater recognition of the positive contributions of surveillance theory would be more productive for surveillance studies than a paradigm shift.
History
Publication title
Emerging and Enduring Inequalities - The 2012 Annual Conference of the Australian Sociological Association
Editors
L Cheshire and A Broom
Pagination
1-6
ISBN
978-0-646-58783-7
Department/School
School of Social Sciences
Publisher
The Australian Sociological Association
Place of publication
Brisbane, Queensland
Event title
2012 Annual Conference of the Australian Sociological Association
Event Venue
Brisbane, Queensland
Date of Event (Start Date)
2012-11-26
Date of Event (End Date)
2012-11-29
Rights statement
Copyright 2012 The Australian Sociological Association
Repository Status
Open
Socio-economic Objectives
Other culture and society not elsewhere classified