No privacy, no peace: Urban surveillance and the movement for Black lives

Abstract

In mid-2020, the movement for Black liberation reached a new stage after the murder of George Floyd generated unprecedented urban protests against racial injustice. Two years on, these appeals have not translated into widespread policy change. We analyze the movement’s relationship to the U.S. state, focusing on state surveillance of the movement. To grasp this, we consider four distinct but intersecting historical processes: first, the long-standing repression of Black people by the U.S.; second, a political shift in the management of urban protest after September 11, 2001; third, the rapid enhancement of technological means for surveillance; and fourth, the emergence of an evolved political form of authoritarianism since ca. 2009. The political economic conjuncture of these processes is not conducive to the movement for Black lives. This movement, and the campaign to reduce state surveillance, are therefore interdependent struggles for collective liberation.