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CIAO DATE: 10/06
Personnels et services de surveillance de la préfecture de police : de la constitution des dossiers de surveillance à la mise en forme du politique (1870-1900)
Nathalie Bayon
No. 53 - Spring 2004 - Cross Perspectives On Political Surveillance
Abstract
The control of dissidents is a central preoccupation of 18th century political regimes. The generalisation of democratic practice and norms, lead however governments to change the traditional technologies of political control. This is what Nathalie Bayon shows through the analysis of police practices in France between 1870 and 1900. She shows that by accumulating data on individuals, through so-called “surveillance files”, state-bureaucraties aim for the efficient control of individuals. But they also manage to make these practices of political control less visible. Although reform is undertaken throughout the period, the aim remains to ensure the safety of the state and the stability of the political regime.