Surveillance Power and Infrapolitics
摘要
This chapter examines the pervasive surveillance within superstores like Walmart and Target, revealing its impact on worker behavior and agency. The omnipresent security cameras, data monitoring tools, and social surveillance networks create an atmosphere of fear, inhibiting open communication and dissent. Workers are aware of this surveillance, with many reporting instances of disciplinary action and even arrests based on surveillance footage. The anti-union stance of these corporations further restricts worker organization, contributing to a climate where fear and distrust prevail. This surveillance regime, however, also fosters infrapolitical resistance. Workers engage in subtle acts of defiance, such as “invizibilization” (evading surveillance) and “counter-surveillance” (dissimulating their actions), to reclaim agency. These tactics, though often individual, form a hidden transcript of collective resistance. This chapter highlights the paradoxical relationship between surveillance and resistance, where increased surveillance leads to more sophisticated forms of resistance, creating a self-fulfilling cycle. The chapter concludes that understanding worker agency in this environment requires acknowledging the coercive power of surveillance and the nuanced forms of resistance it engenders.