Situating 'careful surveillance'. (July 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Andrejevic, Mark; Davies, Hugh; DeSouza, Ruth; Hjorth, Larissa; Richardson, Ingrid
• Other Names: Gibson Margaret guest-editor.; Hjorth Larissa guest-editor.; Choi Jaz Hee-jeong guest-editor.
• Is Part Of: International journal of cultural studies. Volume 24:Number 4(2021)
• Page Start: 567
• Page End: 583
• Publication Date: 2021-07
• Subjects: care -- careful surveillance -- Covid-19 pandemic -- COVIDSafe app -- masks -- prosocial -- social distancing; Culture -- Periodicals; Mass media -- Periodicals; Popular culture -- Periodicals; 306.05
• DOI: 10.1177/1367877921997450
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1367-8779

Abstract

In this article we explore preliminary findings from the study COVIDSafe and Beyond: Perceptions and Practices conducted in Australia in 2020. The study involved a survey followed by interviews, and aimed to capture the dynamic ways in which members of the Australian public perceive the impact of Covid practices – especially public health measures like the introduction of physical and social distancing, compulsory mask wearing, and contact tracing. In the rescripting of public space, different notions of formal and informal surveillance, along with different textures of mediated and social care, appeared. In this article, we explore perceptions around divergent forms of surveillance across social, technological, governmental modes, and the relationship of surveillance to care in our media and cultural practices. What does it mean to care for self and others during a pandemic? How does care get enacted in, and through, media interfaces and public interaction?