Surveillance, Security and Social Sorting

Abstract

Security requirements have been raised to a high level in nation-states around the world following the 9/11 attacks. The resulting increase in routine surveillance of citizens, and especially of travelers, raises questions of sociological interest regarding the intensified means of technology-dependent governance common to many countries. The quality of social existence in a globalizing world is directly affected by the automated identification and social sorting systems proliferating especially at borders but also in everyday life. This article addresses two aspects of post-9/11 security and surveillance: the proliferation of new airport security measures and the emergence of the globalized ID. In both cases, standards are being harmonized such that similar measures are in place at many airports around the world and similar national ID card-and-registry systems are being established, each capable of sharing personal data cross-nationally. Implications for governance in general and civil liberties in particular are explored and critiqued.