The citizen drone: protest, sousveillance and droneviewing

Abstract

In this article we will discuss the use of drones, as well as the visual simulation of drone afforded aesthetics, by activists, artists and protesters. We use the existing literature of surveillance studies and visual studies to examine how exactly a drone-afforded visibility emerges and how it mediates the visibility of a particular community or space of contention. We draw on the concepts of "surveillance capacities" and (counter) visibility practices to analyze the process and production of drone (and drone-simulated) counter surveillant artist/activist visibility. The article makes several key points. The first one concerns the construction of protest space and the protest site volumetrically from the airborne perspective of the citizen drone via an assemblage of artist/activist practices. These practices include the use of drones, as well as dronesimulated imagery. The latter includes, DIY aerial camera rigs attached to kites and the use visual social media platforms such as Instagram to curate otherwise less visible military drone geographies more 'real' and proximate. The second concerns the visibility of subjects engaged in the protest space. And finally, we elaborate how events are presented dynamically (rhythmically) through drone videos and a drone-afforded visual grammar. Our assumption is that drones, as well as drone-simulated imagery allow the user to generate a hybrid participative (inclusive) visibility that makes protest more spectacular through its volumetric vision, subverting the visibility of control while striving for visibility of recognition. Overall, this article seeks to further elaborate on the visual turn within sociology, specifically in relation to what are now commonplace volumetric practices of power, representation and participation.

Tourist’s mobilities: Walking, cycling, driving and waiting

“…We are increasingly sharing data (whether we know it or not), especially visual records about our travelling. And while some cities are trying to campaign against ‘selfies’ and ‘hashtagging’ (see Zuev and Bratchford, 2020) they are themselves involved in creating visual experiences for tourists to erleben (to live through) in a different way and record it. These recordings and image-streams are flowing vast distances, they reveal features about our close and distant others, our food habits and places we visit and enjoy.…”

Drone affective politics against state impunity: The case of 43 disappeared students in Ayotzinapa, Mexico

“…This focus has led to a research gap, however, regarding civilian drone aesthetics and their role in counter-culture tactics in war and social conflicts. Further, while the existing research on collective action and drones does tackle drone aesthetics and the production of and disputes over visual regimes (Viernes, 2020; Zuev and Bratchford, 2020), the sensual perceptions shaping affective orders have been underexplored. Given this gap regarding how civilian drone aesthetics can enact affective politics, by applying the insights of actor-network theory and new materialism to the case of the disappeared students of Ayotzinapa and the protests surrounding it, I first analyze the political affects that drone aesthetics can spark in social conflicts and the role they may have in political communication against the state.…”

“…Through Droncita, Rexiste proposes a visual aesthetics that seeks to challenge the hierarchical metaphor of the state, which like the sovereign of Hobbes’ Leviathan usually appears to be above society, though it too is part of the body politic. Droncita’s civilian drone view from above, however, constitutes a visual narrative to turn this vertical metaphor on its head by enacting counter-cultural surveillance practices (Zuev and Bratchford, 2020). In the following protests against the Ayotzinapa cover-up, for example, Rexiste deployed material objects, such as a Mexican flag with the letters RIP, to evoke fear of the dead (see Figure 4), while Droncita offered a view from above.…”

“…Government-controlled drones have been analyzed as killing machines involved in global struggles. However, civilian drones are also gaining attention as culturally subversive objects that can put alternative aesthetics into motion (Feigenbaum, 2015; Viernes, 2020; Zuev and Bratchford, 2020). Here, aesthetics is understood as the doing and undoing of sensorial perceptions shaping affective orders (Voß et al, forthcoming).…”

“…Here, aesthetics is understood as the doing and undoing of sensorial perceptions shaping affective orders (Voß et al, forthcoming). Although there is increasing interest in civilian drones in the literature on collective action (Viernes, 2020; Zuev and Bratchford, 2020), the focus has been centered around drone aesthetics and sensorial perceptions, leaving aside the political affects that are also mobilized through drones. Thus, to fill this gap, I focus here on both drone aesthetics and the mobilization of affect to fight state impunity in a context of war and social conflict, guided by the following question: How is the aestheticization of affects in drone media activism implicated in the politics of state impunity?…”