surveillant assemblage
Question:
During the second half of the course, we have examined research suggesting that the state’s current capacity to collect metadata is staggering. Ericson and Haggerty refer to it as a ‘surveillant assemblage.’ According to the authors:
“This assemblage operates by abstracting human bodies from their territorial settings and separating them into a series of discrete flows. These flows are then reassembled into distinct ‘data doubles’ which can be scrutinized and targeted for intervention. In the process, we are witnessing a rhizomatic leveling of the hierarchy of surveillance, such that groups which were previously exempt from routine surveillance are now increasingly being monitored.” (Haggerty and Ericson, 606)
In your own words, unpack what the authors mean by this. Once you have explained what the authors mean, discuss some of the dangers this assemblage poses to our personal autonomy. In addition to the article by Ericson and Haggerty, you must also include insights from Reiman’s article “Driving to the Panopticon.”
