Surveillance and the Dossier: Record Keeping, Vulnerability, and Reputational Politics
Author: Ozgun E. Topak
Surveillance and the Dossier delvesÌýinto how dossiers, both paper-based and digital, have been used by governments both historically and in contemporary times to inflict various forms of violence upon the public, including psychological, physical, and reputational.Ìý
This volumeÌýestablishesÌýdossier creation as the foundational practice of all bureaucracies, despite differences in how it has been weaponized as a technique of power by different systems. In nine case studies, ranging from police dossiers in Nazi Germany to China's Hukou family dossier system, this book examines the evolution of surveillance in societies. Surveillance and society researchers Cristina Plamadeala and ÖzgünÌýErdenerÌýTopakÌýengage in a diverse yet comprehensive study of this surveillance tool, looking at examples such as dossiers implicating former members of Zimbabwe's Central Intelligence Organization (CIO), dossiers used in Cold War-era Australia to monitor migrants from the Soviet Union, dossiers of colonial Japan’s Unit 731, deployed in Manchukuo, in Northeast China, and dossiers mobilized for Canada’s World War II conscription program. Deeply relevant and imperative, Surveillance and the Dossier seeksÌýto understand the links between the infliction of state-violence and surveillance.Ìý
This bookÌýdemonstratesÌýthat dossiers serve as a valuable platform for understanding the past and present of surveillance societies across governments and countries.Ìý