Undressing with the Lights On: Surveillance and The Naked Society in a Digital Era. (31st October 2017)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Specht, Doug
• Is Part Of: Westminster papers in communication and culture. Volume 12:Number 3(2017)
• Page Start: 78
• Page End: 90
• Publication Date: 2017-10-31
• Subjects: Surveillance -- Privacy -- History -- Digital -- the State; Mass media and culture -- Periodicals; Communication in politics -- Periodicals; 302.23
• DOI: 10.16997/wpcc.268
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1744-6716

Abstract

After an accidental discovery of Vance Packard's 1960s book, The Naked Society, at Abbey Saint-Benoît-du-Lac in Canada, this article reflects on the history of surveillance and privacy and questions what we might learn by examining past commentaries on the subject. It concludes that there is a danger of repetition and co-option in the academy, and calls for an increasingly reflexive approach to surveillance.