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The Electronic Eye The Rise of Surveillance Society David Lyon |
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Every day precise details of our personal lives are collected, stored, retrieved, and processed within huge computer databases belonging to big corporations and government departments. Although no one may be spying, strangers do know intimate things about us, often without our knowing what they know, why they know it, or who shares this information. This is the surveillance society. In The Electronic Eye, David Lyon looks into our mediated way of life, where every transaction and phone call, border-crossing, vote, and application registers in some computer, to show how electronic surveillance influences social order in our day. The increasing impact of computers on modern societies is seen by some as very promising, but by others as menacing in the extreme. The Electronic Eye is a genuine contribution to the understanding of modern institutions in an era of globalizing electronic communication. “I would suggest those whose responsibility is to teach, do research, or advocate policy concerning privacy and electronic surveillance read The Electronic Eye to expand their knowledge and ideas about the application of some of the social theories relating to this topic.” —Journal of Consumer Affairs “David Lyon provides an introduction to the history, techniques, and theories of what he calls administrative surveillance—the rational ordering of society—in a simple, accessible way that makes this book a good choice for the undergraduate classroom.” —Journal of Communication David Lyon is an associate professor in the department of sociology at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario. He is the author of several books, including Postmodernity. 290 pages | 6 x 9 | 1994 Contents Preface: Situating Surveillance Surveillance in Modern Society |
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$24.50 paper