1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910795220403321

Autore

Lewis Randolph <1966->

Titolo

Under surveillance : being watched in modern America / / Randolph Lewis

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Austin, Texas : , : University of Texas Press, , 2017

©2017

ISBN

1-4773-1380-X

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (276 pages) : illustrations

Disciplina

363.1063

Soggetti

Electronic surveillance - Social aspects - United States

Social control - United States

Privacy, Right of - United States

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Includes index.

Nota di contenuto

Feeling surveillance -- Welcome to the funopticon : the insidious pleasures of ludic surveillance -- Growing up observed : surveillance and childhood -- Watching Walden : surveillance in the wild -- A mighty fortress is our god : selling surveillance in the Bible Belt -- The business of insecurity : inside the new surveillance marketplace.

Sommario/riassunto

Never before has so much been known about so many. CCTV cameras, TSA scanners, NSA databases, big data marketers, predator drones, “stop and frisk” tactics, Facebook algorithms, hidden spyware, and even old-fashioned nosy neighbors—surveillance has become so ubiquitous that we take its presence for granted. While many types of surveillance are pitched as ways to make us safer, almost no one has examined the unintended consequences of living under constant scrutiny and how it changes the way we think and feel about the world. In Under Surveillance, Randolph Lewis offers a highly original look at the emotional, ethical, and aesthetic challenges of living with surveillance in America since 9/11. Taking a broad and humanistic approach, Lewis explores the growth of surveillance in surprising places, such as childhood and nature. He traces the rise of businesses designed to provide surveillance and security, including those that cater to the Bible Belt’s houses of worship. And he peers into the dark side of playful



surveillance, such as eBay’s online guide to “Fun with Surveillance Gadgets.” A worried but ultimately genial guide to this landscape, Lewis helps us see the hidden costs of living in a “control society” in which surveillance is deemed essential to governance and business alike. Written accessibly for a general audience, Under Surveillance prompts us to think deeply about what Lewis calls “the soft tissue damage” inflicted by the culture of surveillance.