Opening the Black Box ─ The Work of Watching

Social control has, in recent times, undergone a series of technological transformations. Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) is one such innovation. Substantial capital has been invested in vast CCTV networks in a bid to influence perception, manage risk and maintain social order. Although one might be inclined to perceive such technologies as either inanimate objects or authoritarian referents, Opening the Black Box situates them in a wider social context and offers an alternative perspective, taking the reader on a journey from life under the camera, to life behind the lens.

While considering the everyday experiences of the camera operators responsible for viewing, interpreting and assessing a multitude of mediated images, the reader is introduced to an intriguing set of social processes. In particular, the complexity of interactivity among humans, machines and the wider system is shown to stimulate affective workplace cultures that are defined by story telling, tacit knowledge and emotionality.

Overall, the book emphasizes both the seductive and traumatic nature of watching (and reflecting upon) reality, and considers the various implications of camera operators being organizationally constituted as symbolic or vicarious custodians of a precarious social order.

Gavin J. D. Smith is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at The Australian National University, previously founding and directing The University of Sydney’s Surveillance and Everyday Life Research Group. He is the author of many reviews, book chapters, journal articles and media reports on the social impacts and implications of ubiquitous surveillance. His current research investigates the interplay among systems of regulation and subjects of surveillance, particularly the interpretive meanings people ascribe to surveillance encounters/exchanges and the transformativity associated with our ‘becoming’ a cyborg species comprised of flesh and code.