Description
This article examines colonial practices of security through the architecture of ‘veillances,’ and how they shape the borders of discourse around race, migration and citizenship. Beyond surveillance (authority monitoring the population), there is now more space for lateral surveillance (population monitoring each other) and sousveillance (population monitoring authority). Within the context of race, the disruptive power of sousveillance is often celebrated as the democratisation of power, creating opportunities for escape, resistance and change (Browne, 2015: 164). This article argues that while empowering, technologies of surveillance and sousveillance may reinforce colonial practices of self-discipline and self-regulation that unevenly affect populations. This is illustrated through the case of Singapore and narratives surrounding low-waged migrant workers as threat and resource, perpetuator and victim, secured and insecure. This discourse is propelled by the concurrent movement of ‘veillances,’ as state rhetoric intermingles with ground-up narratives that are concurrently critical and supportive of the state, citizens and low-waged migrant workers. Within these reactions, however, remains a certain stasis where the marginalised groups continue to be governed and spoken for through a voice not their own.
