Students win poll in CSM elective ‘governance of crime and social disorder'
Teacher Dr. Elke Devroe introduces group role-play on actual themes of governance of crime and social disorder. Seven groups of 5 students each presented last Tuesday March 17th pro’s and con’s of the topic of their choice in a panel in a TV-show setting. Students enjoyed lifting green and red cards for statement voting. Not the teacher but the students themselves got to vote for the best presentation. 35 votes were counted by a random student and the winner of this challenging debate session was group 4 on mass surveillance.
“ We used the case of Steven Gerrard to illustrate the topic of mass surveillance and CCTV in the UK. CCTV in public areas is widespread in the UK, raising issues of providing security and privacy. Football player Steven Gerrard was blackmailed after a bar fight in which he was involved. A police officer illegally and off duty demanded camera images taken at the bar to blackmail the sportsman, and was two weeks ago convicted to a prison sentence of 22 months. In our group these case made us think critically: are we as safe as we think we are? Are we protected by CCTV? Or can images be used against us? If we do nothing wrong, do we have nothing to fear? And how far does mass surveillance technique intrude into peoples lives? Is this the evolution we want or is it just another conserquence of digitalization and technocratization of late modernity? Do we want to live in a surveillance state? And are we really as happy as policy makers think we are in providing us with optimal security and risk analysis for all aspect of modern lives?”