User:Dave Young/1-3/Liwoli
Notes on LiWoLi
When looking at the Liwoli programme the week before the festival, my first thoughts were about how could I somehow fit in all the lectures/workshops/performances/interventions that had caught my interest. The calendar for the three days was very busy, packed with various events that all somehow seemed to connect with my own research here in Networked Media. In the end I somehow managed to participate in more than what my time spent in Linz seemed to allow for.
Heath Bunting's New Identity workshop on Wednesday promised a practical exploration of the political and bureaucratic control systems we as citizens are subject to every day. After a discussion about these mechanisms of 'human verification' and identity control - particularly in the UK - I felt both depressed yet somewhat positive: the systems were undoubtedly oppressive and dangerous if you don't fit the "default racial profile", but there are a surprising amount of opportunities to work the system in your favour. It seems that the over-abundance of rules creates more loopholes to squeeze through. Having said that, the trajectory that governmental policy is following in these areas is not at all promising for those who hope to retain some basic civil liberties. Fuelled by the standard conspiracy panic triangle of child pornography, terrorism, and criminal behaviour, the control systems Heath Bunting explores are in flux, and I can see his New Identity flowchart going through various iterations over the coming years.
"I just don't understand why some people might criticise these proposals. I have no doubt conspiracy theorists will come up with some ridiculous claims about how these measures are an infringement of freedom. But without changing the law, the only freedom we would protect is that of criminals, terrorists and paedophiles." (Theresa May in an interview with The Sun about the 'Snoopers Charter', as quoted by | the Guardian)