How State Surveillance Was Fought
In this month’s edition of Le Monde diplomatique, I have an article in French tracing the history of struggles against state surveillance in the United States in the sixties and seventies.
Abstract
Based on a longer study published earlier this month as a chapter, this article offers a historical perspective on resistance to state surveillance in the United States. It highlights strategies of resistance, but also transformations in the repertoires of actions deployed by the New Left to challenge political surveillance conducted by intelligence agencies (CIA, FBI, military). In particular, it emphasizes the crucial role of alliances between social movements, technical experts, and legal actors in repelling certain surveillance projects and obtaining certain legal guarantees, even if the latter also had a depoliticizing effect.
Full reference: Tréguer Félix, 2024, “Comment la surveillance d’État fut combattue”, Le Monde diplomatique, June 2024.