The Culture of Surveillance Watching as a Way of Life

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Synopsis

From 9/11 to the Snowden leaks, stories about surveillance increasingly dominate the headlines. But surveillance is not only 'done to us' – it is something we do in everyday life. We submit to surveillance, believing we have nothing to hide. Or we try to protect our privacy or negotiate the terms under which others have access to our data. At the same time, we participate in surveillance in order to supervise children, monitor other road users, and safeguard our property. Social media allow us to keep tabs on others, as well as on ourselves. This is the culture of surveillance. This important book explores the imaginaries and practices of everyday surveillance. Its main focus is not high-tech, organized surveillance operations but our varied, mundane experiences of surveillance that range from the casual and careless to the focused and intentional. It insists that it is time to stop using Orwellian metaphors and find ones suited to twenty-first-century surveillance — from 'The Circle' or 'Black Mirror.' Surveillance culture, David Lyon argues, is not detached from the surveillance state, society and economy. It is informed by them. He reveals how the culture of surveillance may help to domesticate and naturalize surveillance of unwelcome kinds, and considers which kinds of surveillance might be fostered for the common good and human flourishing.

Book details

Author:
David Lyon
ISBN:
9781509515455
Related ISBNs:
9780745671734, 9780745671727
Publisher:
Wiley
Pages:
N/A
Reading age:
Not specified
Includes images:
No
Date of addition:
2020-02-16
Usage restrictions:
Copyright
Copyright date:
2018
Copyright by:
David Lyon 
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Categories:
Nonfiction, Sociology