Racialized Borders: Hypothesizing the Diasporic Implications of Discriminatory Surveillance at Canadian Borders

Abstract

Surveillance systems are an element of everyday life in Canada, implemented through a variety of strategies for a multitude of reasons. Regardless of differences in orientation and purpose, surveillance systems wield considerable influence over individuals and groups. Given this influence, surveillance studies are an important area of sociological inquiry that have garnered substantial theoretical development. However, relatively little theorizing has approached experiences with surveillance from a diasporic perspective. In order to support such inquiries, a theoretical model is constructed that examines experiences during Canadian border crossing in relation to race, invasive surveillance practices, and diaspora development. Based on the model presented, I maintain that perceptions of treatment during border crossing experiences are a means by which individuals structurally position themselves based on identity characteristics such as race and religious orientation within the broader cultural identity. Specifically, in the post 9/11 era of intensifying border surveillance, persons of particular racial heritage have been targeted by surveillance efforts at the Canadian border and this differential treatment is more likely to produce problematic diasporas. Negative experiences with actual or perceived omnipresent and oppressive surveillance systems may foster the development of problematic diasporas by accentuating difference. The model draws together existing theoretical frameworks to call attention to central components associated with the application of discriminatory surveillance systems and provides a foundation for future research. This area of inquiry is particularly relevant given the changing face of Canadian immigration and, as such, the Canadian population as a whole.