The Unique Identity (UID) Project, Biometrics and Re-Imagining Governance in India

Bibliographic Data

ID7100200
AuthorsSwagato Sarkar (0000-0002-7842-9531, O. P. Jindal Global University, corresponding author)
Year2014
Volume42
Issue4
Pages516-533
Publication date2014-06-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueOxford Development Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1360-0818 • E-ISSN: 1469-9966
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13600818.2014.924493
OpenAlexW1972431889
LanguageEN
Citations received19
References cited12

At various points in its existence, the Indian state has deployed technologies to govern the nation. Recently, the state has undertaken a number of large-scale projects to make use of digital technology. The most controversial of these is the Unique Identity (UID) project, which is registering biometric, along with demographic, information about residents. This paper seeks to understand what is at stake politically in this technological intervention. It aims to explore the political logics and consequences of such a biometric system. It argues that UID re-imagines the economy and the state-citizen relationship as a series of transactions. Theoretically, the main thrust of this paper is to understand the "general economy of power", as Michel Foucault calls it, which is unfolding in India around the issues of capitalist growth, inequality, social protection and terrorism-and UID signals the technological potential for the convergence of these concerns

Biometrics · Computer security · Convergence (economics · Corporate governance · Economic growth · Economic system · Economics · Identity (music · Law and economics · Management · Political economy · Political science · Politics · Sociology · State (computer science · Terrorism · Anthropological Studies and Insights · Computer Science · Foucault, Power, and Ethics · Law · Water Governance and Infrastructure

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