Survey and Reward
摘要
The current consensus is that we live in the global age of surveillance capitalism that takes a variety of forms and names. As opposed to the classic view that associates surveillance with punishment, in surveillance capitalism, instant gratification or promised reward replaces the punishment. This chapter tackles the question of enhanced surveillance and analyzes how the system of rewards designed to both generate data and domesticate behavior is a reflection of our relationship with the concept of nature—both human and nonhuman. If nature was historically a product of observation and classification, our aspiration to build a perfect society brings politics back to nature as we define it. Unfortunately, human classifications are not neutral. On the contrary, inequalities and hierarchy are embedded in them. The argument here is that the system of surveillance and reward in the population governance of today has as its ultimate goal the eradication of finitude. In the process, we recreate and operate with highly problematic classifications of human beings, and we renaturalize it with the help of technology.