Biometrics and the Disciplining of Democracy: Technology, Electoral Politics, and Liberal Interventionism in Chad
Fiche du document
2021
- handle: 10670/1.k6b1ux
- hal: hal-04337371
- doi: 10.1080/13510347.2021.1907349
Ce document est lié à :
info:eu-repo/semantics/altIdentifier/doi/10.1080/13510347.2021.1907349
Mots-clés
STS International Political Sociology Global South ChadSujets proches
Applied science Arts, Useful Useful arts Science, AppliedCiter ce document
Marielle Debos, « Biometrics and the Disciplining of Democracy: Technology, Electoral Politics, and Liberal Interventionism in Chad », HAL-SHS : histoire, philosophie et sociologie des sciences et des techniques, ID : 10.1080/13510347.2021.1907349
Métriques
Partage / Export
Résumé
In a large number of countries in Africa, biometric identification technologies have become a key element of voter registration procedures. Based on an in-depth study of biometric voter registration in Chad, a country marked by a long history of political violence, the article explains how the technology has been construed as a “solution” to address a situation labelled as a political crisis. To make sense of the unlikely introduction of biometrics in Chad, two main elements are considered: the socially constituted belief in the potential of biometrics and – paradoxically – the unfulfilled promises and fallibility of that same technology. Combining the literature on biometrics, election technologies, and liberal democracy promotion, the analysis concludes that biometric voter registration is a disciplining technology. In addition to capturing the personal data of individuals, it fosters the framing of democracy in narrow technological and procedural terms.