Surveillance and Empire (SOCY 304) | Winter 2019 - Queen's ...
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Surveillance and Empire (SOCY 304) | Winter 2019
Mondays 1:00pm and Wednesdays 11:30am, Botter B143
Instructor: Alix Johnson (she/her/hers) Office: Mac-Corry D428
Email: alix.johnson@queensu.ca Office hours: M 3-4:30
TAs:
Jennifer Whitaker (she/her/hers) Rui Hou (he/him/his)
Mac-Corry D410A Mac-Corry C501
jhcw@queensu.ca rui.hou@queensu.ca
Course outline:
How have techniques of surveillance been used to further projects of empire? Can surveillance
technologies be said to contribute to – or constitute – imperialism today? This course takes up
these questions by tracing the historical, conceptual, and practical links between surveillance
and empire. In doing so, we will challenge common perceptions of both concepts in the interest
of better understanding their effects. For example, we will trace surveillance as an historical
phenomenon – not only an experience brought about by new technological tools. On the other
hand, we will frame empire as an ongoing and flexible formulation – not as an extinct political
object. Throughout, we will treat surveillance and empire as situated social practices, paying
particular attention to the ways each is undergirded by particular notions of difference,
including culture, race, gender, sexuality, and class. By considering a range of examples across
theoretical texts, historical artifacts, media products, and policy documents, we will explore the
intertwined workings of surveillance and empire, and also consider potentials for subversion,
evasion, and resistance.
Learning outcomes:
To succeed in this course, students will demonstrate their ability to:
• Understand the concepts of imperialism, colonialism, and surveillance, and describe
how a range of surveillance practices have contributed to imperial projects, historically
and in the present day
• Situate surveillance technologies as socially constructed, embedded, and contested (not
as “neutral” objects, or all-powerful determinants)
• Apply course texts and theories to concrete examples drawn from archival materials,
fiction, film, and current events
• Engage with theoretically challenging texts and produce writing that summarizes,
evaluates, and mobilizes others’ arguments, while also effectively making their own
Course materials:
Will be posted online to OnQ.
The following books will be excerpted heavily – you are not required to purchase these titles,
but may find it more convenient to do so:
• Howe, Stephen. 2002. Empire: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
• Wood, David Murakami and Torin Monaghan (eds). 2018. Surveillance Studies: A Reader.
Oxford: Oxford University Press. (Many assigned articles are reprinted here)
1 | SOCY 304Evaluation
Assessment:
Your grade will be assessed based on the following components:
Assignment Weight Due date
Participation 20% Ongoing
Reading responses (2) 30% Jan. 28 and Feb. 25
Current event 10% Mar. 13
Draft + workshop of final project 10% Apr. 3
Final project 30% Apr. 10
Participation will be assessed on the basis of in-class engagement and assessments. Most class
days, you will complete a quiz, short writing assignment, or other activity designed to
demonstrate that you have done the reading and paid attention in lecture. If you miss more
than three class sessions, it is likely to compromise your participation grade.
Reading responses are designed to guide and sharpen your engagement with course texts. Twice
during the semester I will offer prompts for critical reflection. You will respond in a short essay
(1000 words).
Current event assignments ask you to find a piece of recent media (news stories, radio/podcasts,
documentary film, etc.) that resonates with the course theme. You will post your media object,
along with a brief commentary (300 words) to the Discussion page of the OnQ class site.
Final projects will explore the nexus of surveillance and empire in one of two ways: either by
analyzing multiple surveillance practices/technologies at one site, or by analyzing multiple
sites through the lens of one surveillance practice/technology. You will have the option of
completing a term paper (3500 words) or a creative project. Either way, your final project will
use course materials and outside sources, and will advance an original argument. Part of your
grade for this project will include an in-class workshop of a rough draft.
Submissions, late policy, and “grace days”:
Reading responses, current events, and final projects should be turned in via OnQ (unless you
are submitting a creative project that cannot be delivered online). All assignments are due by
start of class on the due date, except for final projects, which are due by 5:00 pm.
All assignments should be typed in 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with one-
inch margins. They should include a cover page with a title, your name, student ID number, the
course name, and the date. Assignments should be clearly formatted and proofread, with
references cited correctly according to ASA guidelines (see “Resources” on OnQ for examples).
I will grant extensions only in the case of exceptional circumstances, and only if you make
arrangements with me in advance. In all other cases, your mark will be reduced by 5% for every
day that your assignment is late. That said, we all come up against the unexpected and
unavoidable. For this reason, each student is granted one “grace day” that you may use to turn
in one assignment one day (24 hours) after it is due. When invoking your grace day, simply write
“Grace” in the comment box of your submission on OnQ.
2 | SOCY 304Grading method:
All components will receive numerical percentage marks. Your final grade will be derived by
converting your numerical course average to a letter grade according to Queen’s Official
Conversion Scale:
Numerical Course Average
Grade
(Range)
A+ 90-100
A 85-89
A- 80-84
B+ 77-79
B 73-76
B- 70-72
C+ 67-69
C 63-66
C- 60-62
D+ 57-59
D 53-56
D- 50-52
F 49 and below
Appeals:
If you feel you have been graded unfairly, you may first appeal your grade to me. Please submit
the assignment along with a one-paragraph explanation of why you think your grade should be
changed. You may then appeal to the Head of the Department, who will assign an independent
assessor to evaluate your work. Subsequently, students may formally appeal their grades to the
Faculty of Arts and Science: https://www.queensu.ca/artsci/students-at-queens/academic-
appeals
Accessibility and accommodations:
Queen's University is committed to achieving full accessibility for persons with disabilities, and
I am committed to making this classroom accessible to you. Part of this commitment includes
arranging academic accommodations for students with disabilities to ensure they have an
equitable opportunity to participate in all of their academic activities. If you are a student with a
disability and think you may need accommodations, you are encouraged to contact Student
Wellness Services (SWS) and register as early as possible. For more information, including
important deadlines, please visit the Student Wellness website at:
http://www.queensu.ca/studentwellness/accessibility-services/
Academic integrity:
Queen’s students, faculty, administrators and staff all have responsibilities for supporting and
upholding the fundamental values of academic integrity. Academic integrity is constituted by
the five core fundamental values of honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility (see
http://www.academicintegrity.org) and by the quality of courage. These values and qualities
are central to the building, nurturing and sustaining of an academic community in which all
members of the community will thrive. Adherence to the values expressed through academic
3 | SOCY 304integrity forms a foundation for the "freedom of inquiry and exchange of ideas" essential to the
intellectual life of the University.
Students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with and adhering to the regulations
concerning academic integrity. General information on academic integrity is available at
https://www.queensu.ca/academicintegrity/home, along with Faculty or School specific
information. Departures from academic integrity include, but are not limited to, plagiarism, use
of unauthorized materials, facilitation, forgery and falsification. Actions which contravene the
regulation on academic integrity carry sanctions that can range from a warning, to loss of
grades on an assignment, to failure of a course, to requirement to withdraw from the university.
Course policies
Expectations:
This course is not a topical survey – each unit builds upon the last. This means it is crucial you
keep up with the readings and attend lecture regularly. Plan to read 50-80 pages a week.
Readings listed under a course date should be read by the start of class that day. Some of the
readings in this course will be challenging - I do not expect you to understand everything, but I
do expect you to make time for careful reading, and to come to class with any questions you
have. Likewise, you are not required to agree with the opinions presented here, but you are
expected to engage with them respectfully and in good faith.
Lectures will not simply review or explain the reading, but will introduce context, case studies,
and counter-examples (on which you will also be assessed). I will post lecture slides before the
start of each class. Please note: there is no need to email me if you miss a class session. Your
lowest three participation scores will be dropped to accommodate the occasional absence.
Consequently, it is not possible to “make up” participation points.
Communication:
Email should be used for brief or urgent matters only – please bring questions about course
content and assignments to class or office hours. I will respond to all emails sent during the
week within 48 hours, but will not respond to course email over the weekend. Please plan
accordingly if you need a quick reply.
Technology:
Laptops are permitted in class for the purpose of taking notes and consulting readings. Using
them in other ways is disrespectful, and you will be asked to leave the classroom if you do. Cell
phones should be kept on silent. Please come to class each day with a notebook and writing
utensil, even if you take notes on your computer.
Territorial acknowledgment:
Queen's University is situated on traditional Haudenosaunee and Anishinaabe territory.
Kanien’keha: Ne Queen’s University e’tho nońwe nikanónhsote tsi nońwe ne Haudenasaunee tánon
Anishinaabek tehatihsnónhsahere ne óhontsa.
Anishinaabemowin: Gimaakwe Gchi-gkinoomaagegamig atemagad Naadowe miinwaa Anishinaabe
aking
4 | SOCY 304Course schedule
PART I: IMPERIALISM IN THEORY AND PRACTICE
This unit introduces the concept of imperialism, defining the term (and distinguishing it from its close
relatives), and exploring its changing usage over time. We will ask: what constitutes an empire? What
drives imperialism? What political theories, policies, and social practices undergird the exercise of
empire? How do sociologists think about empire? To what extent is imperialism ongoing today?
Week 1: What is (and Isn’t) Empire?
M 1/7: Course introduction
W 1/9: Definitions and Distinctions
• Howe, Stephen. 2002. Empire: A Very Short Introduction, “Introduction” (p. 1-8) and
Who’s an Imperialist” (p. 9-34). Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Week 2: Imperial Ambitions
M 1/14: Motivations: Culture or Capital?
• Hobson, John. 1902. Imperialism: A Study, “The Economic Taproot of Imperialism” (p. 76-
99). New York: James Pott & Co.
• Said, Edward. 1994. Culture and Imperialism, “Empire, Geography and Culture” (p. 3-15).
London: Vintage.
W 1/16: From Political Theory to Social Practice
• Stoler, Ann Laura. 2002. Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power: Race and the Intimate in
Colonial Rule, “Carnal Knowledge and Imperial Power: Gender and Morality in the
Making of Race” (p. 41-78). Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press.
Week 3: Ongoing Entanglements
M 1/21: Decolonization and Imperial Debris
• Fanon, Frantz. 2004 [1963]. The Wretched of the Earth. “On Violence” (p. 1-17 and 52-62
only). New York: Grove Press.
W 1/23: “The New Imperialism”
• Harvey, David. 2003. The New Imperialism, “All About Oil” (p. 1-25). Oxford: Oxford
University Press.
PART II: TOOLS, TECHNIQUES, TECHNOLOGIES
This unit considers some of the tools, techniques, and technologies employed to make and maintain
empire. We will ask how specific modes of watching have enabled certain kinds of social control: how have
technologies of seeing made spaces available to outside intervention? How have surveillance regimes
worked through, and cemented racial differences? How have the edges of empire been delineated through
the management of moving bodies?
5 | SOCY 304Week 4: Mapping
M 1/28: Exploration and Imperial Science
• Pratt, Mary Louise. 1992. Imperial Eyes: Travel Writing and Transculturation, “Science,
Planetary Consciousness, Interiors” (p. 15-37). London: Taylor & Francis.
First reading response due by start of class
W 1/30: From “Terra Incognita” to Territorial Claims
• Burnett, D. Graham. 2000. Masters of All They Surveyed: Exploration, Geography, and a
British El Dorado, “Traversing Terra Incognita” (p. 67-117)
Week 5: Marking Identities
M 2/4: Sorting Citizens
• Lyon, David. 2009. Identifying Citizens: ID Cards as Surveillance, “Demanding
Documents” (p. 19-38). Cambridge: Polity Press.
• Longman, Timothy. 2002. “Identity Cards, Ethnic Self-Perception, and Genocide in
Rwanda” (p. 345-358), in Documenting Individual Identity: The Development of State
Practices in the Modern World, Jane Caplan and John Torpey (eds). Princeton: Princeton
University Press.
W 2/6: Surveillance and the Settler State
• Dafnos, Tia, Scott Thompson, and Martin French. 2016. “Surveillance and the Colonial
Dream: Canada’s Surveillance of Indigenous Self-Determination” (p. 319-342), in
National Security, Surveillance, and Terror: Canada and Australia in Comparative Perspective,
Lippert et. al. (eds). Palgrave MacMillan.
Week 6: Managing Populations
M 2/11: Policing
• McCoy, Alfred W. 2009. Policing America’s Empire: The United States, The Philippines and
the Rise of the Surveillance State, “Capillaries of Empire” (p. 15- 27 only) and “Surveillance
and Scandal” (p. 94-125). Madison: University of Wisconsin Press.
W 2/13: Prison and Punishment
• Kaplan, Martha. 1995. “Panopticon in Poona: an essay on Foucault and Colonialism.”
Cultural Anthropology 10(1): 85-98.
Week 7: NO CLASS (Reading Week)
PART III: EMERGING SITES AND STRATEGIES
In this unit we will apply the insights we’ve gathered on the relationship between surveillance and empire
to consider a range of contemporary case studies. After a brief introduction to the analytic of the
“surveillance society,” we will ask if we might describe certain conditions as “surveillance empire.” We
will close by considering, and evaluating, potentials for resistance and subversion.
6 | SOCY 304Week 8: From Surveillance Societies to Surveillance Empires
M 2/25: Surveillance Society
• Lyon, David. Forthcoming. “Surveillance Capitalism, Surveillance Culture and Data
Politics” (p. 1-14) in Data Politics: Worlds, Subjects, Rights, D. Bigo, E. Isin and E Ruppert
(eds). Routledge.
Second reading response due by start of class
W 2/27: Surveillance Empire?
• Greenwald, Glenn. 2014. No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S.
Surveillance State, “Collect it All” (p. 90-169). New York: Picador.
• “NSA Files: Decoded,” The Guardian. (link to website on OnQ)
(Read through the explainer and watch a few of the interviews)
Week 9: Borders
M 3/4: Spaces of Conflict
• Watch Sicario (2015) in class
W 3/6: Sites of Control
• Aas, Katja F. 2011. “’Crimmigrant’ Bodies and Bona Fide Travelers: Surveillance,
Citizenship, and Global Governance.” Theoretical Criminology 15(3): 331-346.
• Browne, Simone. 2015. Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness, “What did the TSA
Find in Solange’s Fro? Security Theater at the Airport” (p. 131-159). Durham: Duke
University Press.
Week 10: Platforms
M 3/11: Pleasures of Participation
• Cohen, Julie E. 2016. “The Surveillance-Innovation Complex: The Irony of the
Participatory Turn,” in The Participatory Condition in the Digital Age, Darin Barney et. al.
(eds). University of Minnesota Press.
Approval required for creative project
W 3/13: Accumulation and Extraction
• Jin, Dal Yong. 2013. “The Construction of Platform Imperialism in the Globalization
Era.” TripleC 11(1): 145-172.
Current event due by start of class
Week 11: Battlefields
7 | SOCY 304M 3/18: Visibility, Perception, Perspective
• Satia, Priya. “The Defense of Inhumanity: Air Control in Iraq and the British Idea of
Arabia.” American Historical Review 111(1): 16-51.
• Bousquet, Antoine. 2018. The Eye of War: Military Perception from the Telescope to the Drone,
“Introduction: Visibility Equals Death” (p. 1-20). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota
Press.
W 3/20: Drones
• Kaplan, Caren. 2017. “Drone-O-Rama: Troubling the Temporal and Spatial Logics of
Distance Warfare” (p. 161-177) in Life in the Age of Drone Warfare, Lisa Parks and Caren
Kaplan (eds). Durham: Duke University Press.
Week 12: Space
M 3/25: Imperial Imaginaries, Analogies
• Messeri, Lisa. 2016. Placing Outer Space: An Earthly Ethnography of Other Worlds,
“Mapping Mars in Silicon Valley” (p. 71-110). Durham: Duke University Press.
• The Habitat (podcast). 2018. Gimlet Media.
(Listen to Episode 1, “The Way Up”)
W 3/27: Satellite Surveillance and Shared Space
• Damjanov, Katarina. 2017. “Of Defunct Satellites and Other Space Debris: Media Waste
in the Orbital Commons.” Science, Technology & Human Values 42(1): 166-185.
Week 13: Unsettling Surveillance and Empire
M 4/1: Enduring Questions, Resistant Possibilities
• Monahan, Torin. 2015. “The Right to Hide? Anti-Surveillance Camouflage and the
Aestheticization of Resistance.” Communication and Critical/Cultural Studies 12(2): 159-
178.
• Dencik, Lina, Arne Hintz and Jonathan Cable. “Towards Data Justice? The Ambiguity of
Anti-Surveillance Resistance in Political Activism.” Big Data & Society (July-December):
1-12.
W 4/3: Closing Conversation and What Comes Next
• Final project peer workshop in class
Draft of final project due in class
Final projects due by 5:00 pm on Apr. 10 (uploaded to OnQ or turned in to Sociology Office,
Mac Corry D-wing, 4th Floor)
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