States of Surveillance : Ethnographies of New Technologies in Policing and Justice

Recent discussions on big data surveillance and artificial intelligence in governance have opened up an opportunity to think about the role of technology in the production of the knowledge states use to govern. The contributions in this volume examine the socio-technical assemblages that underpin the surveillance carried out by criminal justice institutions – particularly the digital tools that form the engine room of modern state bureaucracies. Drawing on ethnographic research in contexts from across the globe, the contributions to this volume engage with technology’s promises of transformation, scrutinise established ways of thinking that becomeembedded through technologies, critically consider the dynamics that shape the political economy driving the expansion of security technologies, and examine how those at the margins navigate experiences of surveillance. The book is intended for an interdisciplinary academic audience interested in ethnographic approaches to the study of surveillance technologies in policing and justice. Concrete case studies provide students, practitioners, and activists from a broad range of backgrounds with nuanced entry points to the debate. Cover Half Title Series Page Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents List of Figures Acknowledgements List of Contributors List of Abbreviations States of surveillance: Ethnographic perspectives on technology in policing Part 1 Navigating surveillance: Contending with promises of transformations Chapter 1 Shaping surveillance futures: Palestinian responses to Israeli surveillance technologies Chapter 2 Encountering ethnographic gestures: Reflections on the banality of cybersecurity and STS ecologies of practice Chapter 3 “The server is always down!”: Digitalised complaints systems to monitor public service (mis)conduct in Kenya Chapter 4 Surveillance with a human face: Imaginaries, debates, and resistance to facial recognition implementation among CCTV workers in Argentina Part 2 Shaping epistemology: Problematising knowledge production in law enforcement Chapter 5 Algorithmic chains of translation: Predictive policing and the need for team-based ethnography Chapter 6 Mapping and the construction of criminal spaces in Delhi Chapter 7 Infrastructure shortcuts: The private cloud infrastructure of data-driven policing and its political consequences Chapter 8 Machine learning and artificial intelligence in counterterrorism: The “realities” of security practitioners and technologists Index