Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- A Note on Spelling
- Introduction: The Panopticon in the Indies: Data-Gathering and the Power of Knowing
- 1 Caught in the Eye of Empire: Stamford Raffles’ 1814 Java Regulations
- 2 Deadly Testimonies: John Crawfurd’s Embassy to the Court of Ava and the Framing of the Burman
- 3 Fairy Tales and Nightmares: Identifying the ‘Good’ Asians and the ‘Bad’ Asians in the Writings of Low St. John
- 4 The Needle of Empire: The Mapping of the Malay in the works of Daly and Clifford
- 5 The Panopticon in the Indies: Data-collecting and the Building of the Colonial State in Southeast Asia
- Appendix A Proclamation of Lord Minto, Governor-General of British India, at Molenvliet, Java, 11 September 1811
- Appendix B Proclamation of Stamford Raffles, Lieutenant-General of Java, At Batavia, Java, 15 October 1813
- Appendix C The Treaty of Peace Concluded at Yandabo
- Appendix D The Treaty of Friendship and Commerce between Her Majesty and the Sultan of Borneo (Brunei). Signed, in the English and Malay Languages, 27 May 1847
- Appendix E The Racial Census employed in British Malaya from 1871 to 1931
- Timeline of Events and Developments in Southeast Asia 1800-1900
- Bibliography
- Index
Introduction: The Panopticon in the Indies: Data-Gathering and the Power of Knowing
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 21 November 2020
- Frontmatter
- Dedication
- Contents
- A Note on Spelling
- Introduction: The Panopticon in the Indies: Data-Gathering and the Power of Knowing
- 1 Caught in the Eye of Empire: Stamford Raffles’ 1814 Java Regulations
- 2 Deadly Testimonies: John Crawfurd’s Embassy to the Court of Ava and the Framing of the Burman
- 3 Fairy Tales and Nightmares: Identifying the ‘Good’ Asians and the ‘Bad’ Asians in the Writings of Low St. John
- 4 The Needle of Empire: The Mapping of the Malay in the works of Daly and Clifford
- 5 The Panopticon in the Indies: Data-collecting and the Building of the Colonial State in Southeast Asia
- Appendix A Proclamation of Lord Minto, Governor-General of British India, at Molenvliet, Java, 11 September 1811
- Appendix B Proclamation of Stamford Raffles, Lieutenant-General of Java, At Batavia, Java, 15 October 1813
- Appendix C The Treaty of Peace Concluded at Yandabo
- Appendix D The Treaty of Friendship and Commerce between Her Majesty and the Sultan of Borneo (Brunei). Signed, in the English and Malay Languages, 27 May 1847
- Appendix E The Racial Census employed in British Malaya from 1871 to 1931
- Timeline of Events and Developments in Southeast Asia 1800-1900
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
Panopticon:
(pan·op·ti·con | \pə-ˈnäp-ti-ˌkän, pa-\; plural panopticons)
Definition of panopticon:
1: an optical instrument combining the telescope and microscope
2: a circular prison built with cells arranged radially so that a guard at a central position can see all the prisoners
The Merriam-Webster DictionaryThe problem of control and reproduction of order was surveillance, but surveillance of a distinctively modern kind.
David Lyon,Liquid Surveillance (2010)Lost no longer: The House of Glass that is Postcolonial Southeast Asia
This is a book about books, and work on this book began as I was sailing in the Straits of Malacca, heading North-Northwest (bearing N30ºW, by the compass) in the direction of the Gulf of Martaban, via the Andaman Sea, as a member of the Japanese Peace Boat team.
Though we were out at sea and the weather was clement, there was little by way of romance and adventure on offer. Thanks to the global positioning system that was installed in every cabin I knew precisely where we were. The GPS revealed our exact whereabouts and also provided us a stream of constantly updated information about our ship's bearing and speed, the weather for the day and the days to come, and the estimated time of our arrival (which, as it turned out, was correct down to the minute). My journey to Myanmar was an enjoyable– though predictable – one that was without any unforeseen surprises, save for the fact that I had packed some toothpaste but had forgotten to include a toothbrush. From beginning to end I was aware of the fact that the journey I made took place in a Southeast Asia that has by now been thoroughly mapped and charted, and where it is virtually impossible to get lost.
It was also a journey that took place against a wider backdrop of debates about data and information, coming not long after the Cambridge Analytica data-mining scandal, and allegations that the data brokerage company had played a part in election campaigns in countries like India, Kenya, the United Kingdom and the United States.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Data-Gathering in Colonial Southeast Asia 1800–1900Framing the Other, pp. 13 - 22Publisher: Amsterdam University PressPrint publication year: 2019