Preempting Dissent: The Politics of an Inevitable Future

by Greg Elmer, Andy Opel

Overview

The legacy of the Bush administration and its "War on Terror" includes a new logic of surveillance, suppressing public dissent and mobilizing both "fear" and "faith." In this accessible book, Elmer and Opel show that this new logic stretches well beyond the realm of airport security and international relations into everyday police techniques, including the use of Tasers, the deployment of "stealth" crowd control, the zoning of protestors and the suppression of public dissent. Drawing on social theories and media analyses, this book reveals the underlying "logic of preemption" whereby threats must be eliminated before they materialize. By addressing the implications of this new logic, Elmer and Opel lay the groundwork for more effective resistance.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781894037341
Publisher:	Arbeiter Ring Publishing
Publication date:	12/01/2008
Pages:	88
Product dimensions:	5.00(w) x 6.80(h) x 0.30(d)

About the Author

Greg Elmer is Bell Globemedia Research Chair and Director of the Infoscape research lab, Ryerson University, Toronto. He also teaches in the graduate programme in Communication and Culture, York & Ryerson Universities and the School of Radio, TV Arts. Andy Opel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Communication at Florida State University, teaching documentary video production and critical media studies. His research interests include environmental communication, alternative media and the emerging media, and the democracy movement.