Issues in Interdisciplinarity 2019-20/Power in global surveillance and censorship

Brainstorming

-> Theme : Power in Global Surveillance and Censorship

1. Global Surveillance ; law, social sciences, technology, public policies
2. Censorship ; music, art, cult, literature

-> Ideas : - global surveillance in China (link with politics…)

- Documentary Explained on cults

- Snowden (Citizen Four, Snowden)

- DGSI (example only)

- Louis Theroux (cults)

- Terrorism (a topic in relation to global surveillance)

- Various brief examples of powerful leaders of countries/organisations (or something..) that have used their power to abuse surveillance and censorship, using it to their advantage. Examples can be seen in the politics of China, Venezuela (etc).... furthermore music, arts, literature (etc) have been censored for challenging the status quo by those in power - abuse of human rights?

-> Introduction (to be changed or not) :

Surveillance has always existed but has become widespread and has intensified over the decade with the rise of new technologies, from targeted surveillance to global mass surveillance. Formerly reserved for public spaces security, it now extends to the private life of individuals. Pretended to ensure the security of populations facing the emergent threat of terrorism, it is sometimes used by governments to evaluate foreign policies and economic stability of other countries, with a fully commercial purpose.

(The Snowden case concerning the NSA's intelligence methods has also highlighted that the pretext of the fight against terrorism is sometimes used to cover clandestine surveillance with a purely commercial and political objective, as well as social control)

Surveillance also takes another turn when it is applied on an entire population. In China, face-recognition cameras are installed in the street to identify each passer-by: the system can guess their age, their gender, several physical characteristics, and associate a face to an identity using a governmental database.

-> Potential opening (ouverture) :

In 1949, George Orwell prophesied in his novel 1984, a society of generalized surveillance. In 2013, Edward Snowden, formerly of the United-States secret service, has proven this new form of global surveillance denouncing the systematization of American espionage ... Where are we now? Between a basic concern for protection and precaution and a legitimate desire for freedom and privacy, it is understandable to question how the concept of global surveillance and censorship apply today.

-> To add in the introduction :

- Definition of power

- Definition of global surveillance

- Definition of censorship

- Which specific academic subjects are incompatible (to some extent) because of power? Where SPECIFICALLY is the issue, and which disciplines is it between? *Important for introduction. I think we should specifically name disciplines, with different sections of the wikibook focusing on different disciplines, outlining which disciplines will be used in the introduction.

- Why is it interesting to work on this

- Link all of them to power

-> The structure of each paragraphs :

1. Theme Ex : global surveillance in politics
2. One example Ex : China
3. Link to Power

-> Outline : INTRODUCTION

GLOBAL SURVEILLANCE :

1) in Politics

2) in Social Sciences (in relation with law, our rights as humans)

Mass surveillance e.g in China, the population is censored through face scanning cameras, Internet censorship, but this censorship rarely applies outside of the borders of the country. different from global surveillance.

Transition

CENSORSHIP :

1) in Arts (Fahrenheit 451 for instance) - discussion of both how the arts are censored and banned (e.g Nazi Germany, former DDR), China etc, as well as how censorship is presented in the arts. Arts as an object of oppression but also as a means of liberation.

2) in Cults - cults are organisations or sects maintained both by the

CONCLUSION

-> New topic chosen: Truth in cults :

Lukas Billy Gabriel Calixta Wikibooks - ATK - Issue : Truth

-> Introduction :

- Data or facts about cults (showing why it is interesting to work on this) - general definition : Cult is used in reference to a social group defined by its unusual (define) religious, spiritual or philosophical beliefs. Moreover, the people who are part of a cult generally are interested in a common personality, object or goal. The followers live in a community, under the guidance of a charismatic leader worshipping rituals and veneration. To what extent can truth account for the ‘unusual’ aspect of cults in social sciences, law and religion? - Why are the two disciplines linked to cults? - Outline where the interdisciplinary issue actually is, how does truth create a tension?

Plus, cults are complex and diverse. There are designed and they all pretend that « they are not cults, even though they are », which I found was completely relevant to the Issue truth. After doing some research in the common room right now, it is pretty amazing how you can see that law does not have a solid true idea of what cults are, while sociology thinks absolutely that their definition is true... I think it is actually fascinating

-> Instructions

How the issue chosen plays out in 2 disciplines facing a topic showing how power plays a role in 2 disciplines (for example politics and social sciences) creating a tension in global surveillance/censorship The tension caused by truth between the disciplines specifically with regarding cults, cults practice

Sociology

In sociology, this definition of cults is considered as true : « Cults are organizations or groups of people reunited under a charismatic leader, where members are under psychological influence, and exploited, either financially, sexually or any other type of exploitation » (reference?)

Law

- Distinction between types of legality, yet overwhelming assumption that cults are negative legally and have detrimental affects to the public sphere - Link to prosecution at beginnings of religions e.g Catholics, Jehovah’s Witnesses, etc.

- ‘Historically, many currently “accepted” religions began as %ew and unorthodox” sects that faced a barrage of antipathy and harassment’

- ‘In order to assess whether cults are indeed a threat to society, as many claim, we must examine the bases for the claims made against these religious sects as well as the legal and political constraints being proposed.’ - Subliminal imagining- not directly coerced- e.g Judas Priest trial 1990\ - Argument that cults are scapegoats in society, and legal definition highly complicated by cultural perceptions and acceptance by society - I.e if a religious movement is successful is it not a cult? America first amendment involves ‘free exercise of religion’, yet does not define what makes an acceptable religion - Moreover, use of ‘cult’ as religious evidence in conviction itself.

Psychology

Psychology appears to hold a similar viewpoint with Sociologists on the topic of cults. Both disciplines use language such as ‘exploited’ when defining cults; for instance, in Freud’s 1927 text The Future of an Illusion, he argued that they were largely a mental trick, emotionally comforting lost individuals. The problem Freud held with cults was the extremity of them (especially since the word cult stems from the french word ‘cultes’ which translates to worship). Freud looked to replace cults with rational guides for living that deal with problems directly, as opposed to succumbing to some ultimate, higher power. (JUST WRITING DOWN IDEAS, THIS CAN BE CHANGED..) - Psychological affect of terms used, for example, ‘alternative religious movements’, differing definitions of cults relate to individual perceptions on what a cult is.

-‘everyone “knows” that cults and satanic cults exist. They have strong negative feelings regarding cults, and even stronger feelings against satanic cults. By contrast, their feelings regarding alternative religious movements, while not being “positive,” are less negative than their feelings towards cults and satanic cults’

- Perception based on whether people have been in contact with cults or asked to join etc. - psychology Studies questions such as why are people attracted to cults? What techniques do cult leaders use to make people stay in a cult? What are the long-term negative psychological effects of being in a cult? - Easy messages that are not difficult to follow provide people with a conclusive outlook on life: of (one) truth that is definitive to follow in life. - Affected by low self esteem levels-> those with lower self esteem are more likely to join/ remain in a cult. This is because it is more easy to ‘break down and build back up (those with low self esteem) in an effort to teach them that the cult is the supportive environment they’re looking for’ - Neurological effect/psychological effect: receiving lots of positive praise - effect of being in a cult: giving up money, personal possessions, only interacting with other cult members. Achieved through: o Social isolation – idea that cult members are superior to former friends o Humiliation/ having to write down evidence of failure and mistakes o Being fed false experiences and ideas. REPETITION causes these ideas and beliefs to appear more true. o Making one think that they are not in a cult- > Dr Margaret tala singer argues people don’t understand what a cult is (i.e. it could be something other than a religious group) Who joins cults? Demographic studies - All backgrounds are effected equally (need data for this) - empirical truth: women 70% of cult members around the globe o behavioural interpretation/ interpretive truth gives multiple possible social and cultural explanations of behaviour (psychology) David Bromley Virginia university- women attend more social events, so more likely to actively participate in cults. Sociological reason female oppression by man in history- idea of male authority figure, waiting for guidance.

Anthropology

Anthropology

- Anthropology and archaeology have similar viewpoints, in a descriptive focus on what cults are/ should be: the processes, the material symbolism. Focuses on precise description of the cultural practices of the cult. BUT: archaeology unable to see gestures and actions of individual humans, only material remains. - Colin Renfrew: - anthropology studies ACTIONS in response to religious beliefs, so may disagree with psychology on why the beliefs occur (i.e religious belief and that in the occult or the spiritual). o cults use attention focusing devices, repeated symbols, places with special functions but also : o rituals both public and hidden o gestures and prayer o wealth and resources put into the ritual practice i.e. in sacrificing something - idea of the sacred deeply bound to the cult leaders, e.g. Shaman’s. - debate in anthropology: Levi Strauss argues that there is no such thing as totemism (define)- ‘not a single phenomenon’. The idea that anthropological observation is biased and led in the face of many assumptions and factors. Are our ideas about cults culturally constructed? Types of Cult: - Cargo cult- idea that end of the world is occurring, which you need to prepare for (Captain Cook) - Witchcraft - Shamanism - sacrificial cults - rites of passages in cults - ASPECTS and practices of religion (religious studies intersecting with anthropology) can be deemed as ‘cult-like’ Such features are : o charismatic leaders e.g. David Koresh of the Branch Davidians o 'us versus them' mentality and alienation from others o hierarchy and obedience o violence: Aum Shin Rikyo cult gas attack on Tokyo subway system 1995 - Comparative anthropology or ethnography may help us determine to what extent ‘cult’ is ‘simply used in common parlance or as a controversial term’ for different groups, and to what extent we are really dealing with the cult. o Idea of ‘self and other’ highly debated and studied in social anthropology  These ideas are mirrored in the way outsiders view cults negatively, and the cult members see the cult as ultimate truth or necessity o since we find it hard to determine what exactly are cult is, a comparison of cultures

Literature and cults

Cult Literature - ‘cult’ literature is rarely defined in literary crit. - Attracting a cult following, attract a particular community of readers ‘independent of their qualifications’ o JRR Tolkien’s the Lord of the rings, Franz Kafka’s the Castle - Catcher in the rye as a ‘personal manifesto’ for many in America in the 60’s and 70’s o Literature embodies the tendencies and beliefs of a group of people - Deviance from norms to protest- jackkerouac on the road, chuck palahniuk’s fight club o applies to baby boomers and Generation X

-> References

“Cults”. Explained. Ezra Klein Kara Rozansky Claire Gordon Chad Mumm Lisa Nishimura Joe Posner Jason Spingarn-Koff Kate Townsend, 2019 - Netflix

Cult

Sociological classification of cults and sects : https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sociological_classifications_of_religious_movements#:~:targetText=Cults%20or%20new%20religious%20movements,no%20means%20always%20the%20case. https://theconversation.com/how-cult-leaders-like-charles-manson-exploit-a-basic-psychological-need-57101

Ogloff JRP, Pfeifer JE. Cults and the law: A discussion of the legality of alleged cult activities. Behavioral Sciences & the Law. 1992;10(1):117–40.

https://www.onlinepsychologydegree.info/what-to-know-about-the-psychology-of-cults/

(need to find actual article citation) Author: Ana Sobral. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789401208512_005.

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/332602954_Opting_out_deviance_and_generational_identities_in_American_post-war_cult_fiction