The military's armed surveillance drones are the most elite modernized weaponry in the twenty-first century. They have introduced a new way to see without being seen. In this paper, I investigate the US military's use of drones in warfare, specifically in terms of distance and what that entails for the operator physically, mentally, and emotionally. My analysis will address the question: how are remotely piloted aircrafts connecting distance and humanity in asymmetric warfare? I argue that drones are unlike any other weapon produced thus far because they introduce a completely new way to fight wars at a distance; therefore, a new understanding of humanity and warfare needs to be established. Warfare by remote control in a post-panoptic society has ended the era of mutual engagement and created one of extensive asymmetry. This thesis also examines the militaries historical motives for pursuing weapons that make the enemy into an objective target below. The data that I use to explore these implications is second-hand anecdotes and interviews of former RPA operators, and various media accounts. Based on this data, I find that drones have made it more difficult to kill a target due to the added surveillance technology that allows the operator to see the effects of his or her weapon in real time. This visualization then has the effect of creating intimacy/reducing emotional distance between the operator and the target. / Master of Arts

Since the introduction of online HTTP-cookies, the technology has been widely discussed, both in terms of its actual function, as well as what it can do to users’ behaviors on the Internet. Cookies are small unique text files found within websites on the Internet that can collect and store personal information in order to enhance the users’ experience, as well as to provide the website with essential information about the user. By a literature review that was conducted on the subject, an unawareness among Internet users of how websites use cookies was found. Most users do not know what kind of information a cookie can store and how their privacy today can be violated. With this in mind, we conducted a internet based survey and a focus group interview to study journalism students and media and communication students knowledge about websites usage of cookies and furthermore, how the students opine the technology. This, since they are expected to have a higher knowledge than the general student about the subject since they are studying to assumably work within branches where they may have important parts regarding ICT in the future. By applying Michel Foucault theory Panopticon, Jürgen Habermas The Public Sphere and Sandra Petronio’s Communication Privacy Management Theory to the result of the study, we could see that there is a general unawareness among the students about what kind of information a cookie can collect. Also, the students express negative opinions regarding this harvesting of information, yet little effort is made to obstruct or deny web sites’ use of cookies.

This is a visual arts project consisting of 20% exegesis and 80% practical work. My work explores the visual possibilities of using the digital accumulation of data to convey socio-political concepts in relation to the surveillance of the individual in modern western society. The nature of surveillance is investigated with reference to Michel Foucault's metaphorical use of Jeremy Bentham's panopticon in describing the organization of society in the modern nation state. My critical interest lies in the intrusive aspect of surveillance in regard to the privacy of the individual and the concomitant sense of alienation and disempowerment. The concept of 'abstract reality' has been developed to describe the nature of the surveillance of the individual in the modern nation state.

ABSTRACT A FOUCAULDIAN ANALYSIS OF NCLB: STUDENT DATA AS PANOPTIC SURVEILLANCE by Chris King The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB; Public Law 107-110) reauthorizes and expands the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require large amounts of student data for the purpose of academic surveillance. This study investigates the historical and philosophical components of Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon as a model of surveillance to identify similarities between panopticism and the rubric of collecting student data required by NCLB. All public school districts are evaluated annually for adequate yearly progress (AYP). Under the auspices of this evaluation, all students must be tested, and all results must be included in each district’s AYP calculation. All African American, Hispanic, White, economically disadvantaged, special education, and limited English proficient (LEP) students must meet the same performance and participation standards. States individually develop minimum size criteria for evaluation of student groups. High schools must meet a graduation rate standard set by the state. NCLB’s comprehensive data compilation and student tracking initiatives are consistent with previous federal education policies to conduct data surveillance on students and teachers. Similar to Jeremy Bentham’s 18th century Panopticon model of penal supervision and rehabilitation, NCLB is transforming the schoolhouse into a correction house by unveiling technologies of surveillance and power. By using Benthamian and Foucauldian philosophical analyses, this dissertation examines NCLB’s worldview of student data and tracking, specifically from student subgroups, and their effects of panoptic surveillance. This dissertation proceeds with a review of the historical context of Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon and Michel Foucault’s panopticism. This study recognizes various American educational reform movements from 1776 to 2002 in identifying the following panoptic disciplines: constant surveillance, hierarchical observation and categorization, and panoptic power. It considers the NCLB doctrine of data collection for student and teacher tracking purposes and presents an anticolonial analysis of NCLB’s methods of compiling and tracking student subgroup data using the works of anticolonial scholars Frantz Fanon, Sylvia Wynter, and Carter Woodson. The dissertation concludes with a synthesis of the questions and the problems presented by NCLB and the implications of this analysis for students and teachers.

ABSTRACT A FOUCAULDIAN ANALYSIS OF NCLB: STUDENT DATA AS PANOPTIC SURVEILLANCE by Chris King The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB; Public Law 107-110) reauthorizes and expands the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 to require large amounts of student data for the purpose of academic surveillance. This study investigates the historical and philosophical components of Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon as a model of surveillance to identify similarities between panopticism and the rubric of collecting student data required by NCLB. All public school districts are evaluated annually for adequate yearly progress (AYP). Under the auspices of this evaluation, all students must be tested, and all results must be included in each district’s AYP calculation. All African American, Hispanic, White, economically disadvantaged, special education, and limited English proficient (LEP) students must meet the same performance and participation standards. States individually develop minimum size criteria for evaluation of student groups. High schools must meet a graduation rate standard set by the state. NCLB’s comprehensive data compilation and student tracking initiatives are consistent with previous federal education policies to conduct data surveillance on students and teachers. Similar to Jeremy Bentham’s 18th century Panopticon model of penal supervision and rehabilitation, NCLB is transforming the schoolhouse into a correction house by unveiling technologies of surveillance and power. By using Benthamian and Foucauldian philosophical analyses, this dissertation examines NCLB’s worldview of student data and tracking, specifically from student subgroups, and their effects of panoptic surveillance. This dissertation proceeds with a review of the historical context of Jeremy Bentham’s Panopticon and Michel Foucault’s panopticism. This study recognizes various American educational reform movements from 1776 to 2002 in identifying the following panoptic disciplines: constant surveillance, hierarchical observation and categorization, and panoptic power. It considers the NCLB doctrine of data collection for student and teacher tracking purposes and presents an anticolonial analysis of NCLB’s methods of compiling and tracking student subgroup data using the works of anticolonial scholars Frantz Fanon, Sylvia Wynter, and Carter Woodson. The dissertation concludes with a synthesis of the questions and the problems presented by NCLB and the implications of this analysis for students and teachers.

This is a visual arts project consisting of 20% exegesis and 80% practical work. My work explores the visual possibilities of using the digital accumulation of data to convey socio-political concepts in relation to the surveillance of the individual in modern western society. The nature of surveillance is investigated with reference to Michel Foucault's metaphorical use of Jeremy Bentham's panopticon in describing the organization of society in the modern nation state. My critical interest lies in the intrusive aspect of surveillance in regard to the privacy of the individual and the concomitant sense of alienation and disempowerment. The concept of 'abstract reality' has been developed to describe the nature of the surveillance of the individual in the modern nation state.

The Corona Pandemic 2019 has taken a toll on the skepticism against vaccination and once again the conflict about vaccination has risen. Due to the speed of technological development in correlation with more people being drawn to digital networks these movements has grown bigger than ever. The purpose of this study is to investigate the Swedish anti-vaccination movement Frihetsrörelsens and how the members' experience censorship of vaccination skepticism regarding Covid-19 and if it has affected their interactions on Facebook. The method that forms the basis for the study is qualitative interviews and netnographic study. The material is collected from Frihetsrörelsens Facebook group and thereafter coded to seek underlying themes in the transcripted interviews and the published posts on Facebook. The results show that the members experience censorship to the extent that they can not express themselves freely about opinions that are against or critical towards vaccination. In the study there appeared to be a general distrust of government agencies, the media and pharmaceutical companies among the members. Mistrust also seemed to have resulted in arguments that there is a hidden agenda behind the Covid-19 pandemic because of the censorship. The experience and awareness of censorship has led to members moving to the uncensored platform Telegram.

This paper attempts to survey the debate in the Swedish parliament on state surveillance on the Internet, from 1994 to March, 2007. With a discourse analysis inspired by Foucault, we follow how the idea of state surveillance is viewed by politicians during the period. By focusing on the Internet, we expect to find how politicians in the parliament regard the idea of an unregulated forum for citizen communication and interaction, and how the need for state surveillance on the new arena that is Internet, is expressed and argued for. Theoretical framework is given by Foucault’s theory of the Panoptic state, as well as his thoughts on discourse, power and governmentality. Foucault also supplies the methodological tools for the analysis. In attempting to find out how the political discourse on state surveillance on the Internet has been constituted, we examine what relationship between state and citizens is constituted in the discourse, how politicians argue for or against increased state surveillance, and how the possibility of applying new technology in state surveillance is viewed. The results of the analysis show a rationality for power of state control, resulting in attempts to increase the scope of state surveillance on the Internet. There is no questioning of the basic power rationale, that constitutes a need for state surveillance and control, but there is constant resistance to the attempts to increase state surveillance. We also find the discourse to be an area with a limited number of standpoints, and an ability of the political parties to make sudden switches from one position to another, radically different one, within the discourse. / Uppsatsnivå: D

Studien behandlar ungdomar som av olika anledningar är eller känner sig övervakade och kontrollerade. På grund av särskilda regler och normer begränsas ungdomarnas handlingsutrymme. Vilka är då dessa ungdomar som berörs i studien? Den ena ungdomsgruppen är ungdomar som är placerade på institution och den andra gruppen rör invandrarflickor i särskilt drabbade familjer. Att vistas i en viss instängd institutionell sfär påverkar dessa ungdomar och deras liv på olika sätt. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur olika tekniker, normer och strukturer inom en viss institutionell sfär påverkar ungdomarnas livsstil och att få insyn över de sociala utgångarna.Den primära frågeställningen lyder: Hur påverkar övervakningen inom en viss institutionell sfär på ungdomars socialisering eller resocialisering? Studien har genomförts utifrån ett hermeneutiskt angreppssätt, vilket betyder att studien baseras på intervjuer med invandrarflickor och institutionsplacerade ungdomar. Med hjälp av sociologiska teorier kring disciplinering och socialisering analyserades det empiriska materialet. Slutsatserna av resultatet är att en lång tids vistelse på institution snarare hämmar än gynnar de ungas utveckling. En säker, disciplinerad och stabil miljö är viktig för de unga, men det som är minst lika viktigt är kontakten med och närheten till de personer som de unga älskar och/eller som är viktiga för dem.

<p>Studien behandlar ungdomar som av olika anledningar är eller känner sig övervakade och kontrollerade. På grund av särskilda regler och normer begränsas ungdomarnas handlingsutrymme. Vilka är då dessa ungdomar som berörs i studien? Den ena ungdomsgruppen är ungdomar som är placerade på institution och den andra gruppen rör invandrarflickor i särskilt drabbade familjer. Att vistas i en viss instängd institutionell sfär påverkar dessa ungdomar och deras liv på olika sätt. Syftet med studien är att undersöka hur olika tekniker, normer och strukturer inom en viss institutionell sfär påverkar ungdomarnas livsstil och att få insyn över de sociala utgångarna.Den primära frågeställningen lyder: Hur påverkar övervakningen inom en viss institutionell sfär på ungdomars socialisering eller resocialisering? Studien har genomförts utifrån ett hermeneutiskt angreppssätt, vilket betyder att studien baseras på intervjuer med invandrarflickor och institutionsplacerade ungdomar. Med hjälp av sociologiska teorier kring disciplinering och socialisering analyserades det empiriska materialet.</p><p>Slutsatserna av resultatet är att en lång tids vistelse på institution snarare hämmar än gynnar de ungas utveckling. En säker, disciplinerad och stabil miljö är viktig för de unga, men det som är minst lika viktigt är kontakten med och närheten till de personer som de unga älskar och/eller som är viktiga för dem.</p>