Authoritarian Surveillance Trends: Structural Racism and Transnationalism
Year of Publication: 2025Author: Ozgun E. Topak
This paper extends the “authoritarian surveillance as aپ”(Topak,Mekouar, andCavatorta2022) perspective by focusing on the major trendsthatshapeauthoritarian surveillance in three different contexts. It draws on authoritarian surveillance practices implemented byTurkey, Israel (in Palestine),andthe European Union (EU) (at Africa-Europeborderzones) andobservesthat,despitedifferent contexts and regime types, authoritarian surveillance is driven by structural racism and transnational associations.In Turkey, racialized Kurdish populations and pro-Kurdish dissident groups have beenthe majorrecipients of authoritariansurveillance practices, eventhough massauthoritarian surveillancehasimpactedlarge segments of the society.The Gülen community,which is aTurkey-origin transnational movement, playeda major roleintheintensificationof authoritariansurveillance,while the EU provided indirect support because of its reliance onTurkeyfor stopping migrants trying to reach Europe. The EU implements authoritarian surveillance not only throughresponsibilizingexternal actors (such as inTurkeyand Libya)for border policing but also through the deployment of its own border surveillance technologies. The EU drones, provided by Israeli companies,surveilandfacilitatethereturnofblack African migrants to Libya where they are subjected to crimes against humanity. The long history of European colonialism in Africa shapes the current racist use of EU drones as an authoritarian surveillance practice, which is implemented through the EU’s transnational associations involving Libyan militia groups and Israeli drone companies. In Palestine, the legacies of Israel’s settler-colonial racism against Palestinians have culminated in the current genocidal surveillance by Israel. Israel has been committing genocide within a network of transnational associations and is also one of the major exporters of authoritarian surveillance technology, ranging from spyware to drones. Through examination of these contexts, the paper argues that authoritarian surveillance is practiced by both liberal and authoritarian regimes, is driven by structural racism and is implemented through the involvement of various transnational actors.