This thesis examines the representations of surveillance in mainstream cinema. Using ideology critique it will show how filmic illustrations of monitoring depoliticize the relationship between surveillance and structural relations of power.In order to provide a foundation for this inquiry, a political economy critique of surveillance will be undertaken in four areas. Focusing on the workplace, consumer surveillance, urban policing and intelligence gathering, this thesis will contextualise surveillance as historically relevant and intimately connected with modern constructs such as the nation-state, military power and capitalist economic organisation. In recent years, the role of surveillance has been intensified in response to the challenges posed by globalization, the restructuring of capitalism in the 1980's and 90's and the declining legitimacy of nation-state governments. These developments are both aided by, and in turn promote, pervasive networks of surveillance. Driven by risk management and other forms of economic reasoning as organisational logic, developments in information communication technologies accelerate surveillance capabilities rendering them more invasive and intense. In this way, surveillance can be conceived of as complicit with prevailing relations of power on a macro, sociological level.In order to show how mainstream cinematic representations of surveillance ideologically obscure this relationship, this thesis begins with an overview of 30 popular films. It then moves to a comparison of four recent Hollywood portrayals of surveillance with the four areas of political economy critique identified above. This analysis will reveal that these films have a tendency to focus on sentimental themes such as individual heroism, antagonist versus protagonist struggles and romantic subplots, in a way which deflects attention from collective experience with surveillance webs. More pertinently, the narrative structures of these films feature dichotomies between malevolent and benevolent monitoring, aligning legitimate and benign surveillance with the state. At the same time, the accompanying imagery of surveillance devices fetishizes monitoring, deterministically glorifying technology as a powerful and omniscient force. The overall effect is to depoliticize monitoring as a natural part of the fabric of everyday life.

Visual analytics, defined as "the science of analytical reasoning facilitated by interactive visual interfaces," emerged several years ago as a new research field. While it has seen rapid growth for its first five years of existence, the main focus of visual analytics research has been on developing new techniques and systems rather than identifying how people conduct analysis and how visual analytics tools can help the process and the product of sensemaking. The intelligence analysis community in particular has not been fully examined in visual analytics research even though intelligence analysts are one of the major target users for which visual analytics systems are built. The lack of understanding about how analysts work and how they can benefit from visual analytics systems has created a gap between tools being developed and real world practices. This dissertation is motivated by the observation that existing models of sensemaking/intelligence analysis do not adequately characterize the analysis process and that many visual analytics tools do not truly meet user needs and are not being used effectively by intelligence analysts. I argue that visual analytics research needs to adopt successful HCI practices to better support user tasks and add utility to current work practices. As the first step, my research aims (1) to understand work processes and practices of intelligence analysts and (2) to evaluate a visual analytics system in order to identify where and how visual analytics tools can assist. By characterizing the analysis process and identifying leverage points for future visual analytics tools through empirical studies, I suggest a set of design guidelines and implications that can be used for both designing and evaluating future visual analytics systems.

Thesis (M.S. in Systems Technology)--Naval Postgraduate School, September 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): D.C. Boger, R.M. Brown. Includes bibliographical references. Also available online.

Describing Canada's security intelligence practice, historians have identified 1945as a watershed. In September of that year Igor Gouzenko defected from the embassy of the Soviet Union in Ottawa, carrying with him evidence that the Soviets operated an espionage ring in this country. According to historical canon, Gouzenko's defection and the investigations which resulted from it forced the Canadian government to initiate a security screening program for civil servants and armed forces personnel. This program was an attempt to discern the political opinions, behaviour and trustworthiness of people in positions of trust both inside the state and outside. This thesis rewrites the conventional history of state security screening in Canada. By reexamining existing evidence and making use of records uncovered through the Access to Information Act, this work demonstrates that security screening of civil servants, military personnel and naturalization applicants began in the years between the First and Second World Wars. Revising the point at which security screening began also forces a reevaluation of the motivation for security screening. Security screening was not launched to detect and neutralize foreign espionage agents. Rather, it was borne out of a deep fear of communists among the Canadian people. Concern about internal dissent, not about foreign spying, was responsible for this new security intelligence development. This work also reexamines the Canadian government's supervision of its primary security intelligence agency, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. Contrary to the widely held view that the Canadian cabinet initiated and supervised the screening system, this thesis shows that the RCMP operated a program for at least fifteen years without political authorization and guidance. In doing so, it committed acts which can only be regarded as civil liberties violations. Nevertheless, abuses were relatively minor. One reason why they were was the dubious legality of the program. Carrying out a program which lacked political approval, the RCMP kept a tight rein on the security screening system, fearing a controversy which could be embarrassing and damaging to its own security intelligence capacity.

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This thesis examines the representations of surveillance in mainstream cinema. Using ideology critique it will show how filmic illustrations of monitoring depoliticize the relationship between surveillance and structural relations of power.In order to provide a foundation for this inquiry, a political economy critique of surveillance will be undertaken in four areas. Focusing on the workplace, consumer surveillance, urban policing and intelligence gathering, this thesis will contextualise surveillance as historically relevant and intimately connected with modern constructs such as the nation-state, military power and capitalist economic organisation. In recent years, the role of surveillance has been intensified in response to the challenges posed by globalization, the restructuring of capitalism in the 1980's and 90's and the declining legitimacy of nation-state governments. These developments are both aided by, and in turn promote, pervasive networks of surveillance. Driven by risk management and other forms of economic reasoning as organisational logic, developments in information communication technologies accelerate surveillance capabilities rendering them more invasive and intense. In this way, surveillance can be conceived of as complicit with prevailing relations of power on a macro, sociological level.In order to show how mainstream cinematic representations of surveillance ideologically obscure this relationship, this thesis begins with an overview of 30 popular films. It then moves to a comparison of four recent Hollywood portrayals of surveillance with the four areas of political economy critique identified above. This analysis will reveal that these films have a tendency to focus on sentimental themes such as individual heroism, antagonist versus protagonist struggles and romantic subplots, in a way which deflects attention from collective experience with surveillance webs. More pertinently, the narrative structures of these films feature dichotomies between malevolent and benevolent monitoring, aligning legitimate and benign surveillance with the state. At the same time, the accompanying imagery of surveillance devices fetishizes monitoring, deterministically glorifying technology as a powerful and omniscient force. The overall effect is to depoliticize monitoring as a natural part of the fabric of everyday life.

Thesis (M.S. in Joint Campaign Planning and Strategy)--Joint Forces Staff College, Joint Advanced Warfighting School, 2006. / Vita. "May 26, 2006." "National Defense Univ Norfolk VA"--DTIC cover. Includes bibliographical references (p. 68-72)

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Carleton University, 2004. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 338-350). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.A. in Security Studies (Defense Decision-Making and Planning))--Naval Postgraduate School, Sept. 2004. / Thesis Advisor(s): Peter Lavoy, Jeff Knopf. Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-92). Also available in print.

Thesis (M.S.)--University of North Texas, May, 2009. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.