Mistrusted identities and surveillance of Dalits in India: The case of GPS-enabled tracking of sanitation workers
Type
conference speech
Date Issued
2024-09-27
Author(s)
Abstract
While the discriminatory or intrusive aspects of algorithmic and data-driven technologies have gained attention in the West, the critical inspection of these technologies remains limited within the Indian context, especially with regards to the issue of caste. Scholars have highlighted how the historical caste-based ideologies and biases have the potential to be further encoded and solidified in the design and logic embedded within algorithmic and data-driven technologies. For instance, Sambasivan et al. (2021) highlighted how often, due to the biased idea of caste and religion, the data fed into the safety apps used for scoring and measuring the safety levels of particular locations might indicate neighborhoods resided by Dalits and Muslims as unsafe. This in turn can lead to greater surveillance of these neighborhoods. While Mishra (2021) explained that the bodies of Dalits are often assumed to have "mistrusted identities" and the deployment of biometric technologies often target these communities to gather information about them. These technological artefacts then, serve as an apparatus for verifying the truth and ensuring trustworthiness of the so-called "suspect identities for the state" (Mishra, 2021, p. 60). While these scholars highlighted the tendency where casteist ideologies and biases can also influence data-driven decision systems and their deployment, there remains a gap in exploring how the use of data-driven technologies, such as for surveillance purposes can create conditions that potentially confine Dalits to their historically inferior caste-based identities.
Drawing on Michel Foucault’s theory of biopower (Foucault, 1995, 2003), I situate this paper at the intersection of Critical Caste Studies (CCS) (Ayyathurai, 2021) and Postcolonial Science and Technology Studies (postcolonial STS) (Anderson, 2002, Ashcroft et al., 2005). In this paper, I will specifically focus on the case of GPS-enabled smartwatches used for tracking sanitation workers - predominantly comprising of Dalits to highlight how contemporary surveillance technologies can reproduce techno-colonial practices resulting in caste-based social marginalization of Dalits. I will present the results of 25 qualitative interviews that I conducted during my 3-month ethnographic fieldwork in India. The participants for the interviews are divided into two groups: 1) NGO officials working on Dalit rights and empowerment in India and, 2) Dalit sanitation workers who have been subjected to GPS-enabled smartwatches used for tracking their movements and productivity within the city of Chandigarh, India.
Based on the analysis of this data, I will highlight how the deployment of surveillance technologies, like GPS-enabled smartwatches to track the movements of sanitation workers exposes Dalits to targeted surveillance and violates their human rights. In doing so, their bodies are not only appropriated and scrutinized for data extraction but are also assumed to have "mistrusted identities" that requires to be kept under check and control.
Drawing on Michel Foucault’s theory of biopower (Foucault, 1995, 2003), I situate this paper at the intersection of Critical Caste Studies (CCS) (Ayyathurai, 2021) and Postcolonial Science and Technology Studies (postcolonial STS) (Anderson, 2002, Ashcroft et al., 2005). In this paper, I will specifically focus on the case of GPS-enabled smartwatches used for tracking sanitation workers - predominantly comprising of Dalits to highlight how contemporary surveillance technologies can reproduce techno-colonial practices resulting in caste-based social marginalization of Dalits. I will present the results of 25 qualitative interviews that I conducted during my 3-month ethnographic fieldwork in India. The participants for the interviews are divided into two groups: 1) NGO officials working on Dalit rights and empowerment in India and, 2) Dalit sanitation workers who have been subjected to GPS-enabled smartwatches used for tracking their movements and productivity within the city of Chandigarh, India.
Based on the analysis of this data, I will highlight how the deployment of surveillance technologies, like GPS-enabled smartwatches to track the movements of sanitation workers exposes Dalits to targeted surveillance and violates their human rights. In doing so, their bodies are not only appropriated and scrutinized for data extraction but are also assumed to have "mistrusted identities" that requires to be kept under check and control.
Language
English
Keywords
surveillance technologies
GPS-based tracking
techno-colonialism
critical data studies
Event Title
10th European Communication Conference (ECREA)
Event Location
Ljubljana, Slovenia
Event Date
24-27/09/2024
Subject(s)
Contact Email Address
rahi.patra@student.unisg.ch