Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Everyday Surveillance: Vigilance and Visibility in Postmodern Life

Product Description When we think of surveillance in our society, we usually imagine "Big Brother" scenarios with the government tracking our every move. The actual surveillance of our everyday lives is much more subtle, however, and may be more insidious. William G. Staples shows how our lives are tracked by both public and private organizations-sometimes with our consent, and sometimes without-through our internet use, cell phones, public video cameras, credit cards, license plates, shopping habits, and more. Everyday Surveillance is a provocative exploration of the myriad ways we are watched each day, and how this surveillance shapes our lives. Thoroughly revised, the second edition considers new topics, such as the rise of social media, and updates research throughout. Everyday Surveillance introduces students to concepts of social control and incites classroom discussion about how surveillance impacts the ways we understand people and our lives at home, work, school, or in the community. Review William Staples offers an engaging, succinct, contemporary introduction to the micro-management of ever more areas of daily life through surveillance technology. While attuned to the depths of change, he does not lose sight of what remains unchanged. Ideal for a range of beginning social science courses!--Gary T. Marx, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; author of Windows Into the Soul: Surveillance and Society in an Age of High Technology Lively and engaging. Instructors looking for a sociological treatment of an interesting contemporary issue will find that this book would provoke discussion and debate among students in undergraduate or graduate courses. (praise for previous edition)--Contemporary Sociology The suggestion made by Everyday Surveillance that a 'quiet revolution' is occurring in which we are all targets is a thought provoking one. It reminds us that we all are responsible for encouraging surveillance by being seduced by its promises, fearing the consequences without it and heralding it as society's salvation. The book flags up some new directions in which the study of visual, informational and communication technologies might profitably head.(praise for previous edition)--British Journal of Criminology This book is very well written. . . . It offers a fascinating chronicle of the rage to invent new forms of surveillance, as well as pithy conceptualizations that organize the empirical materials nicely. As such, it clearly meets Staples's stated goal of providing an accessible undergraduate textbook. (praise for previous edition)--Social Forces William G. Staples has authored an impressive, well-written, and exhaustive historical analysis of what he terms society's ever-increasing 'culture of surveillance' and 'postmodern surveillance practices.' While extremely readable and eye opening, Everyday Surveillance . . . is a wide-ranging historical overview of the progression of surveillance and control tactics beginning in the 1700s and continuing all the way to the controversial surveillance tactics employed by government agencies today. . . .Ultimately, this book clearly and effectively challenges the reader to consider how technology has benefited or damaged society. Staples does not pass judgment or offer personal opinion on the techniques described throughout the book; however, he challenges the reader in the hope of creating public discourse regarding concepts of justice, transparency, societal control, and voyeurism. . . .This book should be viewed as an advanced sociological, historical, analytical, and at times philosophical discourse on a topic relevant to all security practitioners and society as a whole.--Security Management George Orwell was wrong. The modern problem of surveillance isn't Big Brother but the thousands upon thousands of "Tiny Brothers" that record and track our daily existence. William Staples offers a compelling account of the rise of private surveillance--complementing but also