Sousveilling the ‘Global War on Terror’

ABSTRACT

This article theorises what it means to challenge official regimes of surveillance in the War on Terror by further developing the notion of ‘sousveillance’. In particular, we focus on the performative dimension of surveillance by attending to its sites of struggle, particularly where alternative and counter-performances work to disrupt and dislodge official regimes of vision. These potent counter-performances have become important flashpoints for discussion in the ongoing negotiation of security state power since the onset of the War on Terror. The article begins by considering what it means to call surveillance ‘performative’ and how such official performances have had a documented chilling effect on free expression and democratic deliberation. It continues by exploring Steve Mann’s notion of ‘sousveillance’, or the view from below, as a theoretical resource for understanding counter-visual performances that otherwise challenge authoritarian surveillant practices. Finally, the article illustrates these dynamics through a number of sousveillant performances that have provoked new deliberative spaces in the context of the War on Terror.

KEYWORDS:

• Sousveillance
• War on Terror
• Panopticon
• surveillance
• performance
• drone

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The term Panopticon stems from ancient Greek: ‘pan’ means ‘all’, and ‘opticon’ means ‘to observe’. The Panopticon therefore denotes something that is all-viewing, something that can observe everything and everyone. Its etymological origin lies in Greek mythology, where it refers to Argos Panoptes, an ancient giant with a hundred eyes who was known to be a very effective watchman.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Roger Stahl

Roger Stahl is Associate Professor in the Department of Communication Studies at the University of Georgia.

Sebastian Kaempf

Sebastian Kaempf is Senior Lecturer in Peace and Conflict Studies at the School of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Queensland.