Surveillance - The big evil of our time?

Seminar paper from the year 2007 in the subject Sociology - Economy and Industry, grade: 7 Punkte, Maastricht University, language: English, abstract: Nowadays, one can often hear people complaining about the extensive surveillance they are under. There is a lot of talking going on concering the use or abuse of surveillance. It seems like there is a general fear of a surveillance society but without general understanding or definition of the term as well as its consequences. In order to clarify the impact of surveillance on our society, the paper will start with the definition of 'our time'. What does it mean to live in a modern and globalized world? In this respect, a discussion of the often used concepts of 'globalization' and 'modernity' is necessary and unavoidable in order to ensure a common basis for further discussion. The essay will continue with the question whether surveillance is something new to society or if it had been there all the time but developed in accordance to society. When discussing surveillance in a sociological way, one cannot ignore Foucault. Therefore, the paper will examine how Foucault dealt with surveillance, where he saw its merrits and shortcomings. After having established this, the essay will discuss how surveillance is used today as well as the reasons behind it.