Surveillance in the Time of Insecurity - (Critical Issues in Crime and Society) by Torin Monahan (Hardcover)

About the Book

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. It 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.

Book Synopsis

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.

Review Quotes

"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" (1/1/1999 12:00:00 AM)

"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" (1/1/1999 12:00:00 AM)

"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" (1/1/1999 12:00:00 AM)

About the Author

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).