Featuring chapters authored by leading scholars in the fields of criminology, critical race studies, history, and more, The Cambridge Handbook of Race and Surveillance cuts across history and geography to provide a detailed examination of how race and surveillance intersect throughout space and time. The volume reviews surveillance technology from the days of colonial conquest to the digital era, focusing on countries such as the United States, Canada, the UK, South Africa, the Philippines, India, Brazil, and Palestine. Weaving together narratives on how technology and surveillance have developed over time to reinforce racial discrimination, the book delves into the often-overlooked origins of racial surveillance, from skin branding, cranial measurements, and fingerprinting to contemporary manifestations in big data, commercial surveillance, and predictive policing. Lucid, accessible, and expertly researched, this handbook provides a crucial investigation of issues spanning history and at the forefront of contemporary life.

Winner, 2024 Choice Awards

'Brilliant and unprecedented. This volume has it all-sharp critiques of surveillance and Big Tech, a deep awareness of race, class and gender, a rich historical analysis. Most importantly the authors’ global vision will alert readers to the realities of digital colonialism and that the time to resist is now.'

James Kilgore - Media Justice, author of Understanding E-Carceration

'In this important and timely, if not overdue, volume, Michael Kwet and fellow contributors explore entanglements of colonialism, imperialism, and digitalisation with racialised surveillance, showing how a global structuring logic of white supremacy informs and sets the contours of local variants of state-corporate power in an emerging Pax Technica.'

Mustafa Ali - The Open University

'A rich, nuanced and detailed exploration of some of the most important issues in modern society and technology. Each chapter contributes new knowledge with clarity, and important connections are made across geographies, history, and the future between each chapter. A truly important exploration of the present and the future of surveillance technology.'

Ziyanda Stuurman - The Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab