BLURBS
“The Athens 2004 Olympics are a cautionary tale in how a diverse array of sophisticated surveillance technologies can be brought together to advance political and corporate agendas at the expense of personal liberties. Professor Samatas has done a valuable service unearthing the complex and often unsettling politics surrounding this global mega-event.”
Kevin D. Haggerty, Professor of Sociology and Criminology, University of Alberta, Canada;
Editor of the Canadian Journal of Sociology, and Killam Laureate Research Fellow in Surveillance Studies.
“Mega events such as the Olympic Games are increasingly used to both leverage significant urban change and dramatically reconfigure security architectures of their host cities. Minas Samatas was one of the first academics to undertake serious analysis of form and impact of surveillance and security regimes brought by urban mega events. Τhe “Super-Panopticon” Scandal of the Αthens 2004 Olympics and its Legacy represents a culmination of many years of analysis; offers a wide-ranging analysis of the methods, implications and costs of Olympic security; and contributes an important landmark to the rapidly expanding field of mega event-driven urban securitization.“
Pete Fussey, Professor of sociology at the University of Essex, UK, specializing in a number of areas including surveillance and society, terrorism and counter-terrorism, critical studies of resilience, major-event security, organized crime and urban sociology. His recent books include Securing and Sustaining the Olympic City (Ashgate) and Terrorism and the Olympics (Routledge).
“Minas Samatas's critical engagement with the surveillance apparatus and legacies of the Athens 2004 summer Olympics is of immense socio-political and academic importance. Samatas' achievement is not only to have inspired the emergence of a novel sub-field of surveillance studies, centering on surveillance issues at sport mega events, but also to offer, again and again, original and much needed insight into the working, driving forces and implications of surveillance at major sporting events. The book is a must read for anybody interested in this problematic field. It also offers a unique perspective on contemporary Greece, in highlighting a specific factor that helps explain some of the current financial and political problems of the country.”
Francisco Klauser, Professor in political geography at the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. His work bridges the academic fields of human geography, surveillance studies and risk research, developing an international portfolio of work. His publications include also two co-edited journal special issues on the topic of "security and surveillance at sport mega events."
Kevin D. Haggerty, Professor of Sociology and Criminology, University of Alberta, Canada;
Editor of the Canadian Journal of Sociology, and Killam Laureate Research Fellow in Surveillance Studies.
“Mega events such as the Olympic Games are increasingly used to both leverage significant urban change and dramatically reconfigure security architectures of their host cities. Minas Samatas was one of the first academics to undertake serious analysis of form and impact of surveillance and security regimes brought by urban mega events. Τhe “Super-Panopticon” Scandal of the Αthens 2004 Olympics and its Legacy represents a culmination of many years of analysis; offers a wide-ranging analysis of the methods, implications and costs of Olympic security; and contributes an important landmark to the rapidly expanding field of mega event-driven urban securitization.“
Pete Fussey, Professor of sociology at the University of Essex, UK, specializing in a number of areas including surveillance and society, terrorism and counter-terrorism, critical studies of resilience, major-event security, organized crime and urban sociology. His recent books include Securing and Sustaining the Olympic City (Ashgate) and Terrorism and the Olympics (Routledge).
“Minas Samatas's critical engagement with the surveillance apparatus and legacies of the Athens 2004 summer Olympics is of immense socio-political and academic importance. Samatas' achievement is not only to have inspired the emergence of a novel sub-field of surveillance studies, centering on surveillance issues at sport mega events, but also to offer, again and again, original and much needed insight into the working, driving forces and implications of surveillance at major sporting events. The book is a must read for anybody interested in this problematic field. It also offers a unique perspective on contemporary Greece, in highlighting a specific factor that helps explain some of the current financial and political problems of the country.”
Francisco Klauser, Professor in political geography at the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland. His work bridges the academic fields of human geography, surveillance studies and risk research, developing an international portfolio of work. His publications include also two co-edited journal special issues on the topic of "security and surveillance at sport mega events."
OTHER cOMMENTS
Minas Samatas' book –exactly the kind of careful, detailed, multi-faceted empirical inquiry put in a context of the relevant literatures and detailing a little researched topic of great social and sociological significance. I really appreciate the great visuals!
Gary T. Marx, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
http://web.mit.edu/gtmarx/www/garyhome.html
Gary T. Marx, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
http://web.mit.edu/gtmarx/www/garyhome.html