Thesis supervisor
: Valérie November
Access
controls, commercial profiling, "smart" video surveillance, but also work activity measurements, toxic product sensors, etc. are all examples of surveillance devices that are becoming increasingly common. They are the subject of strong criticism, whether to denounce their harmful effects or to call for their reinforcement. This thesis helps to explain these differentiated critical responses, which contribute to the updating of our surveillance and risk societies. It offers an analysis that places surveillance practices back into their organizational, social, and practical contexts, based on two systems: accident prevention (known as safety
) and the prevention of malicious acts (known as security
) in the French railway sector. The research shows that despite the distance between the problems considered, the professionals responsible for surveillance are faced with similar practical challenges. The thesis first tests this result from a historical perspective, showing that the first railway managers in the 19th century managed these two problems using the same disciplinary mechanism. After specifying these issues at the beginning of the 20th century, the sociological analysis of current practices highlights a convergence between the professional worlds of railway safety and security around "risk management." In both cases, one of the main activities of safety and security professionals is to separate themselves from certain data collected in their surveillance practices. Based on these findings, the thesis proposes to partially renew the analysis of surveillance practices. The attention that most work on surveillance pays to the processes of data accumulation masks the processes of omission, discarding, or destruction of data. The thesis therefore argues for attention to be paid to both processes, accumulation and separation, in order to better understand and renew the critique of surveillance practices.
Keywords:
surveillance, risk, security, safety, accident, crime, railway police, critique
Thesis defense on Friday, November 17, 2017 Doctorate in Sociology
Year of thesis registration
: September 1, 2012
Doctoral school
: VTT – City, Transportation, and Territories
Jury
:
Mathilde Bourrier, Full Professor, University of Geneva (rapporteur)
Dominique Cardon, Associate Professor, Sciences Po
Anne-Cécile Douillet, University Professor, University of Lille 2
Cédric Moreau de Bellaing, Senior Lecturer, École Normale Supérieure
Valérie November, Director of Research, CNRS (LATTS) (thesis supervisor)
Gwenaële Rot, University Professor, Sciences Po (rapporteur)