The return gaze: genealogy of a discourse of sousveillance through the Black Lives Matter movement

To pursue this question, I first want to break down general understandings of both BLM as a socio-political movement, and sousveillance as a concept and practice. A central element of BLM’s collective mobilization has been videos and images of racialized policing, which were recorded and circulated by bystanders.

These practices, by ordinary civilians, give us insight into sousveillance – or what we might understand as ‘watching from below’. Sousveillance remains an under-examined practice of socio-political resistance; this thesis fills gaps in our understanding of how sousveillance builds, and the transformative potential it has on individual and collective levels.<br><br><i>Thesis embargoed until 31 December 2029.</i>