Surveillance in the Time of Insecurity
Published on 12. March 2010
Book
Hardback
226 pages
978-0-8135-4764-0 (ISBN)
Description
Threats of terrorism, natural disaster, identity theft, job loss, illegal immigration, and even biblical apocalypse-all are perils that trigger alarm in people today. Although there may be a factual basis for many of these fears, they do not simply represent objective conditions. Feelings of insecurity are instilled by politicians and the media, and sustained by urban fortification, technological surveillance, and economic vulnerability.
Surveillance in the Time of Insecurity fuses advanced theoretical accounts of state power and neoliberalism with original research from the social settings in which insecurity dynamics play out in the new century. Torin Monahan explores the counterterrorism-themed show 24, Rapture fiction, traffic control centers, security conferences, public housing, and gated communities, and examines how each manifests complex relationships of inequality, insecurity, and surveillance. Alleviating insecurity requires that we confront its mythic dimensions, the politics inherent in new configurations of security provision, and the structural obstacles to achieving equality in societies.
Surveillance in the Time of Insecurity fuses advanced theoretical accounts of state power and neoliberalism with original research from the social settings in which insecurity dynamics play out in the new century. Torin Monahan explores the counterterrorism-themed show 24, Rapture fiction, traffic control centers, security conferences, public housing, and gated communities, and examines how each manifests complex relationships of inequality, insecurity, and surveillance. Alleviating insecurity requires that we confront its mythic dimensions, the politics inherent in new configurations of security provision, and the structural obstacles to achieving equality in societies.
Reviews / Votes
"Surveillance in the Time of Insecurity is a complex text, grounded in a rich theoretical engagement with neoliberalism and the ways in which it structures the insecurities of our present conditions."(Contemporary Sociology) "Surveillance in the Time of Insecurity advances a compelling analysis of original research to show how modern surveillance practices are constructed within the political framework of our times. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in surveillance, security, or the politics of neoliberalism."
- John Gilliom (author of Overseers of the Poor) "Monahan demonstrates how surveillance and security often feed off each other today, but also why we must understand each in its own right. The illuminating case studies show this perfectly."
- David Lyon (Surveillance Studies Centre, Queens University, Canada) "Surveillance in the Time of Insecurity is a complex text, grounded in a rich theoretical engagement with neoliberalism and the ways in which it structures the insecurities of our present conditions."
(Contemporary Sociology) "Surveillance in the Time of Insecurity advances a compelling analysis of original research to show how modern surveillance practices are constructed within the political framework of our times. I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in surveillance, security, or the politics of neoliberalism."
- John Gilliom (author of Overseers of the Poor) "Monahan demonstrates how surveillance and security often feed off each other today, but also why we must understand each in its own right. The illuminating case studies show this perfectly."
- David Lyon (Surveillance Studies Centre, Queens University, Canada)
More details
Series
Language
English
Place of publication
New Brunswick NJ
United States
Product notice
Cloth over boards
Illustrations
3 illustrations. 3 black and white halftones
Dimensions
Height: 229 mm
Width: 152 mm
Thickness: 18 mm
Weight
477 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-8135-4764-0 (9780813547640)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
Torin Monahan is an associate professor of human and organizational development and an associate professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University. His writings include Schools under Surveillance: Cultures of Control in Public Education (Rutgers University Press).
Content
Securing the homeland
Twenty-four-hour exceptions
Situational awareness of the security industry
Vulnerable identities
Leaving others behind
Residential fortification
Controlling mobilities
Masculine technologies
Countersurveillance
Twenty-four-hour exceptions
Situational awareness of the security industry
Vulnerable identities
Leaving others behind
Residential fortification
Controlling mobilities
Masculine technologies
Countersurveillance