SuperVision
Subtitle: an introduction to the surveillance society
By: John Gilliom and Torin Monahan
Contributors: Monahan, Torin
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press; University Of Chicago Press
Published: 2012
Place of publication: Chicago
Language: eng
Number of pages: 188
ISBN-13: 9780226924434; 9780226924441; 9780226924458
Copyright date: 2012
Subjects: Social aspects; Electronic surveillance; Information technology; Right of Privacy
Description: We live in a surveillance society. Anyone who uses a credit card, cell phone, or even search engines to navigate the Web is being monitored and assessed--and often in ways that are imperceptible to us. The first general introduction to the growing field of surveillance studies, SuperVision uses examples drawn from everyday technologies to show how surveillance is used, who is using it, and how it affects our world. Beginning with a look at the activities and technologies that connect most people to the surveillance matrix, from identification cards to GPS devices in our cars to Facebook, John Gilliom and Torin Monahan invite readers to critically explore surveillance as it relates to issues of law, power, freedom, and inequality. Even if you avoid using credit cards and stay off Facebook, they show, going to work or school inevitably embeds you in surveillance relationships. Finally, they discuss the more obvious forms of surveillance, including the security systems used at airports and on city streets, which both epitomize contemporary surveillance and make impossibly grand promises of safety and security. Gilliom and Monahan are among the foremost experts on surveillance and society, and, with SuperVision, they offer an immensely accessible and engaging guide, giving readers the tools to understand and to question how deeply surveillance has been woven into the fabric of our everyday lives.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: My cell, my self; title: It's in the cards; title: Lives online; title: Surveillance in schools; title: Watching you work; title: Security at any cost?