Grace Chung, Norm Friesen, Andrew Feenberg, Richard Smith - Experiencing Surveillance: A Phenomenological Approach

(Presented at Theorizing Surveillance: The Panopticon and Beyond. Queen's University, Kingston ON, May 2005.)

The near-ubiquity of surveillance and dataveillance technologies in public and quasi-public spaces (public squares, transit stations, supermarkets, ATM machines) has recently given rise to questions about the totalizing, panoptic discipline and control frequently ascribed to these technologies (e.g. Yar, 2003). This paper takes this questioning further through a phenomenological and ethnomethodological investigation of the quotidian and lived-experiential dimensions of surveillance and dataveillance. This investigation underscores the notion that we often have only a vague or liminal awareness of the fact that the smallest details of our activity as consumers, commuters and citizens are subject to systems of scrutiny and control. We have only a "pre-intentional" or "a-thematic awareness" (Levinas, 1989) of the fact that we leave behind a virtual "trail" or "halo" of iconic and indexical traces of our presence and actions. Undertaking a phenomenological investigation of this awareness, this study also considers how such surveillance has subtle and perhaps insidious effects on our conduct, contributing to the "normal" contours, possibilities and accomplishments of public activity.