Surveillance, intervention and the politics of care

Abstract

This article connects with debates about the use of surveillance technology to detect, report and prevent abuse in care settings. Grounded in a Heideggerian theorisation of care as intervention, it argues that care unfolds in people’s deliberations and decisions about whether and how to intercede when abuse is suspected. Such reflections reveal the politics of care because they are contingent on how the need for care is constructed, and actions subsequently legitimised. From this perspective, surveillance can be seen as a manifestation of care, involving choice and responsibility for framing both the problem of, and solution to, abuse.