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imiji's review
informative
reflective
medium-paced
4.5
absolutely crucial contextualization of contemporary thought around surveillance that very clearly and convincingly argues that anti-Black surveillance and Black resistance to that surveillance are foundational to the many apparatuses of state / corporate surveillance we see today. fantastic interdisciplinary lens, great grounding in its essential terms, just all around impactful scholarship.
kristenbyers's review against another edition
4.0
An academic look at the surveillance of blackness. I read this concurrently with Caste by Isabel Wilkerson and the two books definitely complemented one another.
jaclyn_youngblood's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. Damn. Yes. Wish I had read this about five years ago, but no time like the present. Really learned a lot and loved Browne's cogent argumentation.
prophet's review against another edition
5.0
Phew, this took me a while to get through. You'll want to spend some time in reflection after reading a section or two.
Privacy has become a privilege given solely to the rich and "normal." Browne offers a convincing case that this is how it has always been ever since the Land of the Free was first discovered. The poor and "out-of-place" must be catalogued, watched, and tracked. From the chattel slavery of the past, to the non-whites of today. And due to 9/11, any acts challenging this surveillance only further indicts you as a potential suspect.
The biggest takeaway is to consider, as she quotes Desi Cryer, what changes when her "blackness enters the frame." Who is visible/invisible? Subject/Viewer? Who may opt-in/opt-out? And so forth.
Even if you're already keen to ask such questions, this is still worth the read to get an in-depth look at the roots of this anti-black surveillance. It may be a bit dense, but Browne makes sure to clearly define the terms (Unvisible & sousveillance, for example), and the case stories are fascinating and well-researched.
Privacy has become a privilege given solely to the rich and "normal." Browne offers a convincing case that this is how it has always been ever since the Land of the Free was first discovered. The poor and "out-of-place" must be catalogued, watched, and tracked. From the chattel slavery of the past, to the non-whites of today. And due to 9/11, any acts challenging this surveillance only further indicts you as a potential suspect.
The biggest takeaway is to consider, as she quotes Desi Cryer, what changes when her "blackness enters the frame." Who is visible/invisible? Subject/Viewer? Who may opt-in/opt-out? And so forth.
Even if you're already keen to ask such questions, this is still worth the read to get an in-depth look at the roots of this anti-black surveillance. It may be a bit dense, but Browne makes sure to clearly define the terms (Unvisible & sousveillance, for example), and the case stories are fascinating and well-researched.
tielqueen's review against another edition
5.0
chock full of new information framed in ways i've never thought of before, amazing read
kapsar's review
challenging
medium-paced
5.0
I wish the people that created the Netflix Documentary The Social Dilemma had read this book, I believe it would have provided a great deal of context around surveillance. Through the context of reading about race, I've learned a lot about American history that I regret not knowing earlier in my life. This is one of those books that does multiple things at once. First, it teaches about Black history in general, not just Black people in America, but in Africa as well. Second, it teaches about the history of prisons and the very first prison the Panopticon. Third, it discusses Surveillance and surveillance technologies.
It doesn't teach these as separate threads, though. It's impossible to teach these topics separately. Even when reading White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, small parts of these topics were brought up. In Between the World and Me, these same ideas were brought up, just a shorter time horizon for the history.
The United States created law after law, mechanism after mechanism, to surveil Black people. According to Browne, this as soon as an African was captured, they'd be branded, sorted, and documented. Then they'd be surveiled in the slave ship, which was a truly horrific environment.
There was something about how Browne described the slave ship that hit home a lot harder than when I'd seen the ships before. Maybe it's the Pandemic, maybe it's my own allergies, maybe it's understanding that they were locked in this miserable condition for 67 days!
Speaking of the pandemic, the right-wing out bursts against wearing masks is laughable considering some of the laws we implemented in the past to protect white people from Black people. There were laws in New York City, called Lantern Laws where any Black person had to have a lantern lit at anytime after dark. They weren't allowed to be in groups larger than three people and had to have a candle lit at all times. If they didn't, they could get 40 lashings (apparently it was reduced later to 15). 40 Lashings could certainly kill someone.
Ultimately, the book moves from the history of surveillance to present day, which draws a pretty straight line to what we experience now at the airport after 9/11. However, in the airport Black and brown people experience significantly more surveillance than white people. This can lead to ridiculous things like having an afro searched for bomb materials and statistically higher search rates for Black Woman than white women even though statistically white women are more likely to have contraband. Further, this extends to accepting Black people as citizens, as given in an example with a Canadian woman.
I believe this book is critical in understanding our Government's response to the BLM movement, the obsessions with Antifa, avoidance of investigating right-wing terrorism, and our current surveillance state. I think anyone that's working in the social media space or adtech space, should read this book. If you care about ethical technology, you need to read this book. Because if we understand this and address the problems outlined in this book, we address surveillance issues for everyone.
It doesn't teach these as separate threads, though. It's impossible to teach these topics separately. Even when reading White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide, small parts of these topics were brought up. In Between the World and Me, these same ideas were brought up, just a shorter time horizon for the history.
The United States created law after law, mechanism after mechanism, to surveil Black people. According to Browne, this as soon as an African was captured, they'd be branded, sorted, and documented. Then they'd be surveiled in the slave ship, which was a truly horrific environment.
There was something about how Browne described the slave ship that hit home a lot harder than when I'd seen the ships before. Maybe it's the Pandemic, maybe it's my own allergies, maybe it's understanding that they were locked in this miserable condition for 67 days!
Speaking of the pandemic, the right-wing out bursts against wearing masks is laughable considering some of the laws we implemented in the past to protect white people from Black people. There were laws in New York City, called Lantern Laws where any Black person had to have a lantern lit at anytime after dark. They weren't allowed to be in groups larger than three people and had to have a candle lit at all times. If they didn't, they could get 40 lashings (apparently it was reduced later to 15). 40 Lashings could certainly kill someone.
Ultimately, the book moves from the history of surveillance to present day, which draws a pretty straight line to what we experience now at the airport after 9/11. However, in the airport Black and brown people experience significantly more surveillance than white people. This can lead to ridiculous things like having an afro searched for bomb materials and statistically higher search rates for Black Woman than white women even though statistically white women are more likely to have contraband. Further, this extends to accepting Black people as citizens, as given in an example with a Canadian woman.
I believe this book is critical in understanding our Government's response to the BLM movement, the obsessions with Antifa, avoidance of investigating right-wing terrorism, and our current surveillance state. I think anyone that's working in the social media space or adtech space, should read this book. If you care about ethical technology, you need to read this book. Because if we understand this and address the problems outlined in this book, we address surveillance issues for everyone.
miguel's review
4.0
In the conclusion of Dark Matters, Simone Browne asks the rhetorical question she has gestured toward all along: "could there be some potential in going about unknown or unremarkable, and perhaps unbothered, where CCTV, camera-enabled devices, facial recognition, and other computer vision technologies are in use?"
In Browne's interdisciplinary study on modern and historical surveillance, she draws attention to the relationship between oppressive surveillance practices in the context of chattel slavery in the United States and the modern airport security theater. She also draws out the potential for refusal in the space of modern biometric technology that is built on an assumption of prototypical whiteness. If the response of Hewlett-Packard to their camera's inability to detect black faces is to suggest that users include more light in the frame, how is that distinct from the "lantern laws" of 1713 New York City that regulated the mobility of black and Native American enslaved people? It is through the rigorous analysis of these unexplored or unexposed connections that Browne interrogates notions of surveillance and opens up space for refusal.
Browne also engages in great readings of contemporary art pieces related to surveillance, brands, and branding. She also draws attention to the absurd and outdated premise of biologically determined race that is the fundamental assumption of biometric R&D divisions. Browne's work is a broad survey that opens the door for a certain kind of inquiry into surveillance and the modern constitution of the racialized subject.
In Browne's interdisciplinary study on modern and historical surveillance, she draws attention to the relationship between oppressive surveillance practices in the context of chattel slavery in the United States and the modern airport security theater. She also draws out the potential for refusal in the space of modern biometric technology that is built on an assumption of prototypical whiteness. If the response of Hewlett-Packard to their camera's inability to detect black faces is to suggest that users include more light in the frame, how is that distinct from the "lantern laws" of 1713 New York City that regulated the mobility of black and Native American enslaved people? It is through the rigorous analysis of these unexplored or unexposed connections that Browne interrogates notions of surveillance and opens up space for refusal.
Browne also engages in great readings of contemporary art pieces related to surveillance, brands, and branding. She also draws attention to the absurd and outdated premise of biologically determined race that is the fundamental assumption of biometric R&D divisions. Browne's work is a broad survey that opens the door for a certain kind of inquiry into surveillance and the modern constitution of the racialized subject.