Tracking, Targeting, Predicting. Epistemological, Ontological, and Biopolitical Dimensions of Techno-Security Department of Media Studies, University of Paderborn, 20-22nd June 2013
Tracking, targeting, predicting: These are basic
components of the
current
high-tech military logic in the countries of the global North.
Strong,
ubiquitous ICT-based networks, manned and unmanned systems are
used to control
and monitor area-wide and over huge distances 24 hours
a day to reach a
‘globespanning dominance based on a nearmonopoly of
space and air
power’ (Graham). The Information Revolution in Military
Affairs is based
on the intertwinement of information sovereignty,
technological
superiority and the close networking of intelligence,
command centers
and weapon technologies.
Surprisingly,
the logic of civil security architectures seems to work
along very similar lines. An impressive
example is the recent ‘Domain
Awareness
System’ in Manhattan, co-produced by Microsoft and the New
York City
Police, with its more than 3000 cameras, 2500 sensors,
hundreds of
license-plate-scanners, access to huge criminal as well as
terrorist
databases, emergency calls etc. The system was introduced as
a super-tool in
the fight against terrorism but is already deployed
for ‘regular’
crime investigation. High-tech warfare and civil
security architectures
seem to share a similar concept of
techno-security
based on precautionary risk management, an emphasis on
advanced ICT, a
preference for distanced operations and the reliance
on the idea of
full spectrum dominance.
The aim of the
workshop is to analyze closely the logic of
techno-security
in its military and / or civil aspects as well as
their possible
entanglements.
Relevant questions are:
- What are the
ontological, epistemological and biopolitical
dimensions of
today’s techno-security, of the growing convergence of
recent
sociotechnologies of surveillance and warfare?
- What role do
technoscientific methods such as real time system
analysis,
scenario techniques, or computer simulations play in the
logic of
techno-security? How do technoscientific / biocybernetic
approaches
conjoin with biopolitical militarized practices — for
example, in
operating unpredictability and in their attempt to model
the future?
- What is the
impact of techno-(in)securities on everyday practices?
Do we experience
a militarization of civil life, the civilization of
war, a
‘militarization of visual culture’ (Kaplan)?
- What are
gendered dimensions of techno-security? Does
techno-security contribute
to social sorting in terms of gender, race,
age, ability?
- (How) Are the
‘politics of fear’ (Massumi), the (game) culture of
tracking/targeting, and the ‘entrepreneurial self’ (Bröckling)
interwoven?
Additional
submissions are encouraged that address further questions
concerning the
discourses and practices of techno-security in civil
and / or
military contexts.
Please send your abstract of 500 words + references to
cfp-weber@kw.upb.de no later than
December, 31st 2012.
They will be blind reviewed by the conference committee.
Applicants
will be notified
of the decision by February, 28th 2013. Author names
and addresses
should only appear on a removable cover page to
facilitate blind
review. Please submit manuscripts as an MS Word or a
Rich Text file.
To grant sufficient time for intense discussions the
contributors
will be asked to limit their presentation to a total
length of 25
minutes.
The conference will be open to the public. Conference
language is
English. There
is no conference fee. Financial support for travel
expenses may be
granted to junior researchers upon request if the
necessary funds
are available.
Keynote speakers: Caren Kaplan, University of California
Davis, USA;
Stefan Kaufmann,
University of Freiburg, Germany; Lucy Suchman,
Lancaster
University, UK.
Conference
Committee: Stefan Kaufmann, University of Freiburg,
Germany; Anna
Leander, Copenhagen Business School, DK; Winifred R.
Poster,
Washington University, St. Louis, USA; Lucy Suchman, Lancaster
University, UK;
Peter Ullrich, Social Science Research Center Berlin,
Germany; Jutta
Weber, University of Paderborn, Germany
For further questions please contact Katrin M. Kämpf and
Göde Both at
We are looking forward to your contributions.
Prof. Dr. Jutta Weber, Institute of Media Studies,
University of Paderborn
--
Dipl.-Inf. Göde Both (M.Sc.)
Mediensoziologie (Culture, Media, Society) Universität
Paderborn Fakultät Kulturwissenschaften (Faculty of Arts and Humanities)
Institut für Medienwissenschaften (Department of Media Studies) Warburger Str.
100
33098 Paderborn, Germany
phone: +49 (0)5251 60 - 3287
mail: goede.both@upb.de