Tactical memory: The politics of openness in the construction of memory by Sandra Braman
In this at times meandering article from First Monday, it is proposed that, whilst the Panopticon was, and still is, a powerful way to imagine spaces of discipline, it is the Panspectron that turns today’s environment of open information into an always-on surveillance machine. The article suggests that openness of information leads to all of the world’s information being gathered and analysed all of the time; and it is not until a query is made that a subject is brought into being.
This concept gives us pause for reflection in that whilst intuitively, open information appears to be a noble end in and of itself, as we consider the ways this information can be used as a tool of mass surveillance, participation in this information love-in appears much less appealing. This is particularly the case when we consider that the gathering and analysing of information is being conducted by both government and big business, neither of whom have a great track record in the protection of libertarian values.
Best I being careful what I write.
