The Labours of surveillance

Abstract

Surveillance and work is examined as the central theme of the issue. Two interpretations of the phrase are made – first, surveillance of work, and second surveillance as work. After a focus on the second, a review of recently published work which informs this perspective is undertaken, and then two issues for future research are discussed. These issues concern how the surveilled subject might come to be understood, and how connectivity between different surveillance locales may be examined. It is concluded that examining surveillance as work renders new types of occupational category and organizational activity significant, as well as the labours involved in the social processes of identity work and representation management.