Suchergebnisse

Features papers by the leading surveillance scholars in the field that attempts to grapple with the relationship between surveillance and democracy.

The "pains of imprisonment" is one of the most prominent concepts in the social study of incarceration. First introduced by Gresham Sykes in 1958, it has subsequently been taken up by generations of authors and applied to an increasingly diverse range of contexts, populations, and activities. This article details how the "pains of imprisonment" concept has evolved and expanded. It is based on an analysis of 50 academic works (books, articles, and chapters) that used some variation of the "pains of…" formulation. We identified four main trajectories in the literature that have contributed to this expansion, which we document in the first section through the use of illustrative examples. This is followed by a more critical series of reflections that seek to appreciate some of the organizational and political factors that might account for the appeal of this concept. Finally, we conclude by questioning whether the "pains" framing might paradoxically be a victim of its own success, with its analytical and political purchase potentially blunted through overuse and overextension.

Do we need yet more analysis of the responses to the September 11, 2001 (hereafter 9/11), terrorist attacks? Those tragic events occurred more than a decade ago, and their 10-year memorial focused on bringing "closure" to the event. For many, those attacks have become an increasingly distant, if still poignant, memory. For still others—such as the new cohort of undergraduate students who were only nine years old on the day of the attacks—9/11 is social history.Our contention in putting together this volume is that there continues to be significant reason to scrutinize 9/11 in terms of its consequences for the dynamics of surveillance. The aftermath of that tragic event played a major role in policy changes and in international relations. Wars were fought in Iraq and Afghanistan, sparked by 9/11, and many thousands more people died as a result. "National security" was elevated to a top priority in the United States and elsewhere, and this approach has had wave and ripple effects throughout the world. This is the "War on Terror," and, unlike other wars, this one has no visible end point. These developments certainly affected surveillance practices internationally and have been the cue for the United States to demand that other countries fall in line with its approach. On the other hand, for many countries, especially in the global south, 9/11 is not a top-of-mind matter, nor is "national security" a vital concern.

ID scanning systems have become a fixture at the entrances of private bars and nightclubs in many North American jurisdictions. This article draws from an ongoing ethnographic study to interrogate the diverse appeals of such devices to institutional audiences. The authors situate these devices within the occupational culture and routines of door staff, and accentuate how the real world operation of these tools can at times circumvent any promised security gains. They then consider why the devices are nonetheless appealing to nightclub representatives because of their potential sign value that allows bar staff to advance preferred sets of communications with influential audiences.

This research note draws attention to the play of a researcher's identity during a summer's worth of research conducted in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. Focus is particularly directed at the position of 'academic homecomers', and the various ways in which different forms of their identity and 'insiderness' can structure research.

The paper analyses Project Civil City (PCC), a major initiative launched by the City of Vancouver in 2006 that aimed for significant reductions in street disorder in time for the 2010 Winter Olympics. This initiative is considered in light of the links between urban regeneration/revitalisation efforts and security and surveillance practices. PCC stands as a telling moment in the on-going and highly politicised efforts to regulate urban disorder in this 'world city'. The paper concentrates on three distinct initiatives aimed at ordering different components of urban disorder in Vancouver.