CCTV and (In)dividuation

Abstract

This essay draws on work of Freud and Foucault to understand emerging converging aspects of visual surveillance and tracking technology. It discusses some of the general pro blems with video surveillance – due to its reliance on a flattened version of the visual realm, its partial view, and assumptions about human vision. It then moves on to show how CCTV has changed from the monitoring of flows to identifying individuals and functioning as the human interface for new databank applications, using Foucault’s reflections on governmentality. The essay ends by detailing a controversial test of video surveillance and RFID tags which point out some new dangers for us to consider, and argues that we should resist the ‘flat fantasy’ offered by video surveillance.