NCJ Number
227474
Journal
European Journal of Criminology Volume: 6 Issue: 2 Dated: March 2009 Pages: 157-177
Date Published
March 2009
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This article reviews the development of closed circuit television (CCTV) in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany with the intent to disentangle the surveillance consensus.
Abstract
The surveillance assemblage has a twofold character. On the one hand it aims to increase visibility and on the other hand it works invisibly. The surveillance assemblage offers a surveillance consensus. In an attempt to disentangle this consensus, this article focuses on CCTV as a technology that is still visible. Three aspects of the surveillance consensus are analyzed, namely, correlating with the aesthetical concept of consensus, called (1) the illusion of total inclusion, which is hardened by (2) media arrangements and eventually by (3) regulation. These three aspects are examined empirically along with examples from the development of CCTV in the United Kingdom, France, and Germany. The variations in speed and the different methods of adoption of public CCTV in these three countries allows for some insight into the creation of this surveillance consensus. The focus of this article is on the above three aspects which seem to be most relevant to understanding the contemporary surveillance consensus. References