This dissertation is concerned with surveillance, which refers to the monitoring and supervision of populations for specific purposes. Of special interest we the ways in which new technologies are augmenting the power of surveillance in the late twentieth century, and therefore influencing the privacy debate. Three things are noted about this. First, large-scale surveillance by bureaucratic organizations is a product of modernity, not of new technologies. This is evident from Part I of the dissertation, which argues that increased surveillance capacity comes as a result of specific economic and political circumstances that favour the use of technological systems of particular kinds, which invariably feature enhanced capacities. Second, surveillance has two faces; advantages appear alongside serious disadvantages. This is also evident in Part I of the dissertation which suggests that much surveillance theory is dystopian and therefore, an incomplete paradigm. Finally, new technologies facilitate some major magnification of surveillance power; some even argue that they change its character qualitatively. As such, privacy features prominently alongside discussions of electronic surveillance. This is evident in the final two parts of the dissertation which evaluate privacy as a strategy for limiting electronic surveillance. In this regard, Part II examines technical challenges to electronic surveillance, expressed through privacy law in particular, and Part III analyses mobilization challenges, which have to do with the role played by social movements in attempting to bring about broader-based change than mere legislation. Throughout the dissertation, the argument is made that surveillance has become a central feature of contemporary advanced societies and as such, it should be a major concern of both social analysis and political action. This is why the dissertation is divided into distinct, but overlapping, parts, with the first part focusing on social and critical
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:LACETR/oai:collectionscanada.gc.ca:QMM.35653 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Yamashita, Miyo. |
| Contributors | Robinson, Gertrude (advisor) |
| Publisher | McGill University |
| Source Sets | Library and Archives Canada ETDs Repository / Centre d'archives des thèses électroniques de Bibliothèque et Archives Canada |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Coverage | Doctor of Philosophy (Graduate Communications Program.) |
| Rights | All items in eScholarship@McGill are protected by copyright with all rights reserved unless otherwise indicated. |
| Relation | alephsysno: 001610060, proquestno: NQ44634, Theses scanned by UMI/ProQuest. |
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