Biometric State

Abstract

Biometric identification and registration systems are being proposed by governments and businesses across the world. Surprisingly they are under most rapid, and systematic, development in countries in Africa and Asia. In this groundbreaking book Keith Breckenridge traces how the origins of the systems being developed in places like India, Mexico, Nigeria and Ghana can be found in a century-long history of biometric government in South Africa, with the South African experience of centralized fingerprint identification unparalleled in its chronological depth and demographic scope. He shows how empire, and particularly the triangular relationship between India, the Witwatersrand and Britain, established the special South African obsession with biometric government, and shaped the international politics that developed around it for the length of the twentieth century. He also examines the political effects of biometric registration systems, revealing their consequences for the basic workings of the institutions of democracy and authoritarianism.

“Governtrepreneurism” for good governance: The case of Aadhaar and the India Stack

“…In many of the former colonies of the European empires, technologies of governmentality predate the nation‐state. Colonisers sought to identify and rule “illiterate subjects” through fingerprinting and other forms of biometric administration (Breckenridge, , p. 15). Although biometric government was first developed in India, it was quickly demolished as a result of Gandhi's international protests against fingerprint registration in South Africa, where it continued to develop (Breckenridge, , p. 15).…”

“…Colonisers sought to identify and rule “illiterate subjects” through fingerprinting and other forms of biometric administration (Breckenridge, , p. 15). Although biometric government was first developed in India, it was quickly demolished as a result of Gandhi's international protests against fingerprint registration in South Africa, where it continued to develop (Breckenridge, , p. 15). Biometrics have since had a long trajectory in South Africa and now, at a particular moment in postcolonial governmentality, they are being restored to India, and are in development in Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, Ghana and many other ex‐colonies through a mechanism of welfare and cash transfers (Breckenridge, ).…”

“…Although biometric government was first developed in India, it was quickly demolished as a result of Gandhi's international protests against fingerprint registration in South Africa, where it continued to develop (Breckenridge, , p. 15). Biometrics have since had a long trajectory in South Africa and now, at a particular moment in postcolonial governmentality, they are being restored to India, and are in development in Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, Ghana and many other ex‐colonies through a mechanism of welfare and cash transfers (Breckenridge, ). In India, although Gandhi's protests halted biometric developments, the colonial state continued its technologies of governmentality in other forms, treating populations as subjects, classified into categories including lower caste, tribe and minority religion for policies aimed at “settlement, revenue, recruitment to the army, crime prevention, public health” etc.…”

“…Whilst the relationship between identification systems and private interests has been explored (Lyon, ), a new emerging trend is the springboard of biometric technologies for welfare and financial services in the post‐colonial world. As Breckenridge explains, “What distinguishes all of the biometric projects of the post‐colonial world is their explicit goal to provide bureaucratic and financial services to an illiterate population” (, p. 216). It is through these new systems of financial data collection that fin‐tech companies will be able to create and profit from the production of a “cybernetic order,” separating “the credit worthy from the delinquent” (Breckenridge, , p. 217).…”

“…The most powerful biometric systems are being built in the former colonies of European empires (Breckenridge, ). Over the last century, biometric systems have largely been confined to South Africa and have only recently been developed in ex‐colonies such as Ghana, Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, Malawi, Kenya, and India (Breckenridge, ; Gelb & Clark, ). Many of these projects follow the South African model in which biometrics have been combined with electronic payment mechanisms for the delivery of social grants (Gelb & Clark, ).…”