More Black Holes and White Walls
(2009) The International Spectator — Vol. 44, n° 3, p. 117-118 (2009)
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- Authors
Bellanova, Rocco 
- Abstract
- This book review engages with 'Playing the identity card: surveillance, security and identification in global perspective', edited by Colin J. Bennett and David Lyon (London and New York: Routledge, 2008). Nowadays, identification policies are on the top of the national and international agendas. Playing the Identity Card focuses on one of the main identification policies. It looks at ID card policies, with their organizational and technological complexities, as a tool of governance and a field of struggles between actors and powers. No more a mere symbol of sovereignty, both private and public actors suggest that ID documents are the ‘smart’ solution to a wide range of issues and threats (xi–xiii). Surely, the post-9/11 US and UK legislative proposals for ID programs have contributed to directing attention at this specific tool, fostering public debate and scientific research. However, the two editors, among the most prominent scholars of surveillance and privacy protection, have rightly avoided embracing the ‘‘9/11 turn’’ as the sole approach to interpreting developments in the field. Merit has to be given to the book’s comparative approach: fourteen case studies answering three main questions concerning the drivers, system design and lessons learned.
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Citations
Bellanova, R. (2009). More Black Holes and White Walls. The International Spectator, 44(3), 117-118. https://doi.org/10.1080/03932720903148922 (Original work published 2009)