AFDI-BiometricCapture.pdf (546.52 kB)
Biometric capture: disrupting the digital codification of black migrants in the UK
The current system of the surveillance of migrants relies on biometric capture. To be captured is to be codified into machine-readable representations. This paper merges technological codifications with political discourse to explore the disproportionate capturing of black migrants in the UK. Using the historical treatment of Nigerian migrants in the UK as an illustration, this paper interrogates how contemporary technologies are used to codify and confine black migrants. This paper explores works from digital artists – Keith Piper and Joy Buolamwini – to address this codification of blackness using biometric technology. It calls for new technological cultures of coding that centre the disruption of violent systems of capture. Failure is defined as this disruption of hegemonic systems of codification and capture that aim to subjugate black communities. This paper stresses that it is only when technologies of capture fail that black and migrant communities can truly experience digital freedom.
History
Publication status
- Published
File Version
- Accepted version
Journal
African DiasporaISSN
1872-5457Publisher
Brill Academic PublishersExternal DOI
Issue
1-2Volume
12Page range
117-141Department affiliated with
- Media and Film Publications
Full text available
- Yes
Peer reviewed?
- Yes
Legacy Posted Date
2020-08-25First Open Access (FOA) Date
2020-08-27First Compliant Deposit (FCD) Date
2020-08-27Usage metrics
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