Theories of the Information Society, Third Edition - Cryptome

INFORMATION, REFLEXIVITY AND SURVEILLANCE
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In this chapter I have tried, drawing on the work of Giddens, to outline major
dimensions of reflexive modernisation and its close cousin surveillance that may
be said to account for the increased importance, and particular forms, of information
in recent years. It is especially in the nation state and its intimate concerns
with war and security, alongside the growth of citizenship rights and duties, that
one may discern an imperative of surveillance. Industrial warfare developed with
close ties between needs of war, industrialism and the nation state, encouraging
intimate connections between the most advanced ICTs and defence. In the
transmutation of industrial into information war there remains an emphasis on
the military adopting leading-edge ICTs, improving surveillance measures and
refining information control. However, globalisation has meant that ‘perception
management’ is extraordinarily hard to sustain nowadays and discernment of
other nation states as enemies has become more difficult. One important dimension
of this is the emergence of ‘human rights regimes’ that may even be
stimulants of military activities by global (or at least supra-state) bodies such
as the United Nations and NATO. The growth of corporate surveillance of
consumers, if under-examined, also has paradoxical features since it has been
accompanied by the spread of calls for accountability which in turn leads to closer
surveillance of corporations themselves. Such is the Janus face of reflexive
modernisation.
The concern in this chapter for the extension of surveillance is not to paint
an Orwellian scenario, though it does contain warnings of ‘Big Brother’ (Lyon,
2006). However, conceived as an element of reflexive modernisation it can be
seen as a corollary of the observational imperatives that accompany a more
organised way of life and which, paradoxically, can enhance control, accountability
and options to create different ways of life.
Conclusion
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