Recent Issues

Surveillance and the Global Turn to Authoritarianism
Vol 15 No 3/4 (2017)

This is our first ever special “Responsive Issue,” conceived of as something extra to our usual process of publication. We asked for shorter articles, written in a more punchy and accessible style, to cover specific countries which are moving in an authoritarian direction, and/or transnational issues that relate to the nexus of surveillance and authoritarianism. We would like to thank all of the authors and reviewers who rose so quickly to the challenge.

The cover image is of stencil graffiti spotted in London in 2017. #FreeAhmed refers to Ahmed Mansoor (or Mansour), the Emirati human rights defender currently serving ten years in prison for his views on the authoritarian government of the UAE (see Manu Luksch’s interview with Mansoor which concludes this issue).

This issue is dedicated to Ahmed Mansoor, to the late Liu Xiaobo and Berta Caceres, and to all those countless dedicated and courageous people who risk their freedom and their lives to oppose authoritarianism and oppression.

Read here.

Open Issue
Vol 15 No 2 (2017)

We’re delighted to present another packed issue covering a wide range of ground from surveillance theory and critique, through subjectivities and public opinion, to surveillance history. There are are also six book reviews, which are also available in one document here.

Race, Communities, and Informants
Vol 15 No 1 (2017)

Welcome to the first issue of 2017, the beginning of our 15th volume, ‘Race, Communities and Informers’, guest-edited by Simone Browne (University of Austin at Texas), Katherine Mckittrick (Queen’s University, Ontario) and Ronak K. Kapadia (University of Illinois at Chicago). Simone Browne, who was recently awarded the Surveillance Studies Network book prize for her work, Dark Matters: On the Surveillance of Blackness, contributes the editorial.

Speaking of awards, also in this issue, it is also entirely appropriate that we recognise the pioneering achievements of Oscar Gandy, the great African-American scholar of Surveillance Studies, who has spent his career drawing attention to the racial and other inequities of what he called ‘the panoptic sort’. We present a piece based on the speech he gave in response to receiving the 2016 Distinguished Scholar Award of the SSN.

We also have three more papers in response to our call on ‘Surveillance after Security Intelligence After Snowden’, edited by David Murakami Wood and Steve Wright (the first part can be found here) and finally, a selection of reviews of recent books in Surveillance Studies (the reviews can aslo be downloaded as a single file.)