The Electronic Eye: The Rise of Surveillance Society - Computers and Social Control in Context - Softcover

Lyon, David

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0745612687 ISBN 13: 9780745612683

Publisher: Polity Pr, 1994

Synopsis

The increasing influence of computers in modern societies has been seen by some as offering great promise for the future, but by others as menacing in the extreme. In this work, David Lyon investigates the validity of these two opposing points of view. Whether making a phone call, claiming benefits, entering the work-place or using a credit card, more and more daily activities are recorded and traced using what are here called "surveillance systems". Computerization vastly expands the surveillance capacity of all forms of organization, including the state, but also extending to the consumer market-place. By analyzing these various contexts of surveillance activity, Lyon is able to offer a judicious interpretation of the influence electronic information systems have upon the social order today. The result is an interpretation of modern social, political and economic institutions which goes far beyond merely assessing the role of information technology. Lyon provides an overview of such surveillance as a major phenomenon of contemporary societies. But neither the optimistic nor the pessimistic view of the role of information technology is accurate. The reality, Lyon suggests, is much more complex and subtle. In unravelling these complexities Lyon aims to make a useful contribution to the understanding of modern institutions in an era of globalizing electronic communication.

About this edition

• Publisher: Polity Pr
• Publication date: 1994
• ISBN 10: 0745612687
• ISBN 13: 9780745612683
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272