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Vom Nackt- zum Sicherheitsscanner: Wie Sicherheit zu einer Ware wird

Research Project
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01.01.2012
 - 31.12.2015

Body scanner, nude-o-scope, security scanner : These labels refer to the "same" technology and each of them bears implications as to what the technology "really" or "truly" does. "Body scanner" highlights the fact that the body is being scanned. More technical labels like "backscatter X ray" or "millimetre scanners" specify the mode of operation, i.e. the type of radiation a particular scanner uses. The radiation permeates any clothing but is reflected by the human skin, and the scanner displays an image showing every object concealed underneath the clothing. Moreover, the image shows the naked body. In this line, "nude-o-scope" denounces the scan as a humiliating and voyeuristic procedure. By contrast, "security scanner", the official EU label, is supposed to draw one's attention to the alleged purpose of improving security. The EU also requires manufacturers to develop and implement software in order to replace the image of the nude body with an abstract avatar. The US government uses the label "Advanced Imaging Technology", regarding the scan merely as a technological procedure. My thesis presents a meta-critical and interpretative approach to study a controversial technology. Rather than treating the technology as an independent issue r , it seeks to shed light onto the various ways in which technology is embedded and interwoven in societal frameworks. The different labels reflect different viewpoints: different issues are at stake for different actors. According to the programme "Social Construction of Technology" (SCOT), technologies are always linked to actors. Understanding a technology therefore requires understanding how it is related to different actors and how these actors are related to one another. One has to bear in mind that actors have unequal capacities to shape the terrain of a controversy. The rise and fall of the label "nude-o-scope" is a good example for the marginal influence public outrage has on basic political mechanisms. The legal discussions in the US as well as the political discussions in the EU take the need for new security measures and new security technologies for granted. Mitigating the debate concerning the "nude-o-scope" by promoting new software and new official labels does not mean that governments attach a high value to privacy issues. Rather it demonstrates the capacity of governments to shape and channel controversies and consequently ensure the acceptance and development/implementation of particular technologies. Hence, the systematic adoption of the labels "security scanner" and "advanced imaging technology" at airports is the outcome of/results from an institutional process. I argue that this process is mainly driven by a new political interest in security and by various economic interests of airports as well as manufacturers.

Collaborations & Cooperations

2015 - Participation or Organization of Collaborations on an international level
Reinhart, Martin, Prof. Dr., Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Institut für Sozialwissen­schaften, Wissenschaftsforschung, Joint PhD project

Publications

Genner, Julian (2016) ‘Wenn Grenzen Grenzen überschreiten. Vom Nackt- zum Sicherheitsscanner’, in Picard, Jacques; Chakkalakal, Silvy; Andris, Silke (ed.) Grenzen aus kulturwissenschaftlichen Perspektiven. Berlin: Panama (Grenzen aus kulturwissenschaftlichen Perspektiven), pp. 297–313.

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Members (2)

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Walter Leimgruber

Principal Investigator
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Julian Genner

Project Member