Monday, September 17, 2007

Control...not just about whips and chains anymore.


This week's readings essentially cover the idea that we are being controlled through surveillance technology. They reading I am going to focus the most on discusses the idea of Taylorism, which is a strategy for running a business with the incorporation of the idea that an employee will be hired or fired based on his or her performance. These actions form control over the employees in the sense that if they wish to have a long-lasting job, they will perform to their best ability.
The other idea of control comes from both the video on YouTube, as well as the short article discussing the woman who was denied a job based on their previous actions. This is where surveillance technologies begin to have too much control over others. If protesting an for a just cause may prevent you from being hired by an employer in the future, would you still attend that protest? Does one sacrifice their beliefs simply because an employer could potentially not hire them based on these beliefs? These problems prevent surveillance technologies from becoming all that they could be.

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