History and Political Economy of Police Surveillance

The recent onslaught of tech driven surveillance might seem like a new phenomenon but it can also be seen as a continuation of long-running dynamics. Technology, state control, and quasi-scientific techniques have a long, deeply intertwined history. Understanding this history is important for contextualizing any attempts to change the current systems.

The tech community spends a lot of time thinking about “threat modeling” and responding to specific technical vulnerabilities, this presentation is an attempt at expanding that thinking by looking at larger systems and strategies.

This presentation will look at the history of surveillance, policing, forensic “science” and how they intersect with race science, capitalism, and other ideological paradigms. It will end with a conversation about developing analysis and strategy.