Trust and surveillance : four themes and definitions / by Stephanie Schutte.

Abstract

This is a study that examines the impacts surveillance can have on trust levels in society. The main purpose is to attempt to determine whether surveillance negotiates, manipulates, replaces or damages trust in others. The method of discourse analysis is used to uncover four dominant themes in surveillance literature - the Panopticon, the synopticon, security and resistance. Questions of trust are posed throughout each section and analyzed by using a single definition of trust. The definitions are derived from four different disciplines - business, sociology, social psychology and philosophy - to create a multidisciplinary and multidimensional perspective on trust. This research contributes to the surveillance literature by reinserting the question of trust.