My research interests focus on the use of employee surveillance techniques in and around organizations, and surveillance in society at large. In particular I am interested in subjectivity and the experience of surveillance, as well as the organizational forms surrounding pervasive employee monitoring. Beyond empirical work I have a theoretical interest in surveillance drawing on organization theory, the sociology of the body, performance theory, and feminist theory.

 

Research Networks and Activity:

• Taking Liberties? New Uses of Consumer Data in the UK: Taking Liberties is a three year project, funded by the Leverhulme Trust, which aims to identify how national security measures are impacting marketing practices, particularly Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programmes in two key industries: financial services and travel. 
• The Everyday Life of Surveillance: The Everyday Life of Surveillance is a six part seminar series funded by the Economic and Social Research Council. It aims to move beyond both alarmist talk of 'Big Brother' and the cynical acceptance of increasing surveillance as inevitable. It aims discuss what living in a society in which surveillance is normal means for individuals, our workplaces, homes and cities, and society as a whole, and what can be done about it.
• The New Transparency: Surveillance and Social Sorting. The New Transparency is a Major Collaborative Research Initiative funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. This project questions how and why this came about and investigates its key characteristics and major consequences. As institutions of all kinds depend on communication and information technologies, personal data are processed and recorded on a massive scale and public safety and national security become top priorities, surveillance is now experienced as a daily reality.
• Recently completed: The Globalisation of Personal Data. An Initiative on the New Economy project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. The Globalisation of Personal Data project is a multi-disciplinary and international collaborative initiative which aims to find out what happens to our personal data, and how personal data processing impacts upon the lives of everyday citizens, workers, consumers and travellers.