Biometrics: Bodies, Technologies, Biopolitics

193 Pages·2010·2.903 MB·English

by  Joseph Pugliese

Biometrics
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Edited byRegulaValérieBurri Bodies,Technologies,Biopolitics
andJosephDumit JosephPugliese
Biometrics
Bodies, Technologies, Biopolitics
Joseph Pugliese
Firstpublished2010
byRoutledge
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Biometrics:bodies,technologies,biopolitics/editedbyJosephPugliese.
p.cm.–(Routledgestudiesinscience,technology,andsociety;12)
Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex.
1.Biometricidentification.I.Pugliese,Joseph,1959–
TK7882.B56P842010
006.4–dc22 2009051431
ISBN13:978-0-415-87487-8(hbk)
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Contents
List of Figur es x
Ackn owledgmen ts xi
Introd uction: Bio politics of Biom etrics 1
1 A Genealog y of Biomet ric Technolo gies 25
2 The Biomet rics of Infr astructu ral White ness 56
3 “Identity Dominance”: Biometrics, Biosurveillance,
Terrori sm and War 80
4 Identity Fraud and Imposture: Biometrics, the Metaphysics
of Presence and the Alleged Liveness of the “Live”
Eviden tiary Bod y 110
5 Neurotechnologies of Truth: Brain Fingerprinting’s
Neurog nomics an d No Lie MRI ’ s Digital Phrenol ogy 129
Epilogue: Biometrics’ Infrastructrual Normativities and
the Biopolit ics of So matic Si ngularities 155
Refere nces 166
Index 177
List of Figures
3.1. Typical gaits of normal, criminal and epileptic subjects. Cesare
Lomb roso, L ’ Uomo Delin quente , 1889. 86
5.1. Cesare Lombroso’s “pulse graphs.” Cesare Lombroso, L’Uomo
Delin quente , 1889. 134
Acknowledgments
This book emerged from work that began, long ago, with a Nietzschean
analysis of dermographic inscriptions on the body. Magnetised by the
indissociable relation between the body and cultural inscription, I proceeded
to track the cultural politics of the body under the power of assimilationist
regimes of race, identity and nation. This, in turn, led me to investigate the
intersection of science, law and race in the context of genetics and forensic
pathology. It was from that juncture that biometrics beckoned.
A number of people have been crucial in helping me bring this book
to fruition. I am especially grateful to Suvendrini Perera, who encouraged
me to pursue this project from her very first reading of my work on bio-
metrics; our dialogues and exchanges have been a constant source of
affirmation; her research has been a critical point of reference. My thanks
to Benjamin Holtzman at Routledge for his enthusiastic response to my
proposal and to the anonymous referees who underscored his belief in the
project. I’m grateful to Penny Pether, David Caudill and Peter Goodrich
for their generous support and for encouraging and enabling my repeated
transgressions in the field of law. Judith Grbich has played a crucial role in
the field of Australian intellectual life; her journal, The Australian Feminist
Law Journal, has been at the forefront in publishing innovative and risk-
taking political work that would otherwise not see the light of day. My
thanks to Judith for publishing my first paper on biometrics and for her
continued support of my work. Susan Stryker’s coining of the term “soma-
technics” proved invaluable in clarifying my approach to bodies and tech-
nologies—I’m grateful to Susan and the members of the Department of
Critical and Cultural Studies at Macquarie University who contributed to
the theorising of this term.
I wish to express my thanks to Maria Giannacopoulos and Lara Palombo
for their practical assistance and unwavering political commitment, as well
as acknowledging Anthony Burke, Anne Cranny-Francis, Cathy Hawkins,
Ivor Indyk, Goldie Osuri and Juliet Rogers for their various modes of sup-
port. In addition, I express sincere thanks to Paul Collier, Victor Lee,
Nicholas Orlans and Charlie Wilson for generously sharing their expert
knowledgeofbiometrics.