Peripheral Vision ― Politics, Technology, and Surveillance

Frois (anthropology, Lisbon U. Institute, Portugal) analyzes the nature of policy-making in the case of video surveillance implementation processes developed in Portugal in the period 2005-2010 (or roughly the term in office of Prime Minister Jose Socrates). Adopting an anthropological perspective toward understanding the social and cultural impact of technology and society, she argues that the failed and controversial program was not a response to any real internal need, but rather was an attempt to import a foreign model of governance with little regard to internal context. Annotation c2014 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Catarina Frois is Invited Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at Lisbon University Institute and Senior Researcher at the Centre for Research in Anthropology, Portugal. Her publications include The Anonymous Society: Identity, Transformation and Anonymity in 12-Step Associations (Cambridge Scholars Publishing, 2009) and Vigilancia e Poder (Mundos Sociais, 2011).