Review of Wills' Tug of War: Surveillance Capitalism, Military Contracting, and the Rise of the Security State

Abstract

Lifting the veil on a corporate world girded by powerful forces at the nexus of state, capital, and geopolitical power games. Introduction : satellites and surveillance capitalism -- "Our knowledge is in the holes" : software consulting and the sweat-equity formula, 1968-1977 -- "Innovation in a cold climate" : remote sensing and the government contracting paradigm, 1971-1980 -- "Two things went wrong at once" : mythical man-months, financial crises, and the near-death experience, 1975-1981 -- "Unscrambling the mess" : financial restructuring, management discipline, and the military contracting formula, 1981-1987 -- "The systems vision was too hard" : investor strategies, product development, and the demise of the manufacturing vision, 1982-1988 -- "One amorphous mass" : systems integration, strategic planning, and the search for liquidity, 1988-1993 -- "This company will be sold" : MDA's public offering, orbital's acquisition, and the dot-com bust, 1993-2001 -- "Shades of grey" : 11 September 2001, the homeland security bubble, and Canada's sovereignty imbroglio, 2001-2008 -- "A lucky escape" : the great recession, property information divestment, and the acquisition of a critical mass in satellite manufacturing, 2009-2012.