Surveilling the marginalised: How manual, embodied and territorialised surveillance persists in the age of ‘dataveillance’

Abstract

The emergence of new forms of data-driven surveillance – often referred to as ‘dataveillance’ – is reshaping how marginalised social groups are governed. It is generally thought that dataveillance replaces the manual monitoring of specific individuals and spaces with automated monitoring of disembodied and deterritorialised populations. This article challenges this view. Drawing on an ethnographic study of surveillance and homelessness governance in Brisbane, Australia, we argue that embodied surveillance persists in the age of dataveillance due to its capacity to address certain ‘power/knowledge challenges’ associated with the governance of marginalised social groups. We show how the manual monitoring of individuals and spaces is central to how governing actors keep track of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness, and prevent them falling into ‘surveillance gaps’ arising from the extreme social and spatial marginalisation that homelessness entails. We also show how these practices are experienced as a ‘mixed blessing’ by people experiencing homelessness, as they have the capacity to result in both punitive targeting, as well as protection and housing-focused support.