The concepts of surveillance and sousveillance

A critical analysis

Datos Bibliográficos

ID3073710
AutoresFrej Klem Thomsen (0000-0001-9626-5115, Danish Institute for Human Rights, autor de correspondencia)
Año2019
Volumen58
Número4
Páginas701-713
Fecha de publicación2019-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaSocial Science Information (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0539-0184 • E-ISSN: 1461-7412
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0539018419884410
OpenAlexW2982586523
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas14
Referencias citadas14

The concept of surveillance has recently been complemented by the concept of sousveillance. Neither term, however, has been rigorously defined, and it is particularly unclear how to understand and delimit sousveillance. This article sketches a generic definition of surveillance and proceeds to explore various ways in which we might define sousveillance, including power differentials, surreptitiousness, control, reciprocity, and moral valence. It argues that for each of these ways of defining it, sousveillance either fails to be distinct from surveillance or to provide a generally useful concept. As such, the article concludes that academics should avoid the neologism, and simply clarify what sense of surveillance is at stake when necessary

Epistemology · Linguistics · Neologism · Social science · Sociology · Global Security and Public Health · Philosophy · Torture, Ethics, and Law · War, Ethics, and Justification