People in Sociology - Faculty

Bill Staples

Professor
Department Chair
Fall 2008 Office Hours:
1:30-3:00 TWF
Personal Web Site
Email
Phone: (785) 864-9414

Professor Staples (PhD Southern California) has interests in social control, privacy, and historical sociology. His most recent books include the Encyclopedia of Privacy (forthcoming, 2007), Power, Profits, and Patriarchy: The Social Organization of Work at a British Metal Trades Firm,1791-1922 (2001), and Everyday Surveillance: Vigilance and Visibility in Postmodern Life (2000). Areas: Comparative and Historical, Cultural Sociology, and Political and Economic Sociology.

DO WE LIVE IN A SURVEILLANCE SOCIETY?

.......My research explores the connections between technology, social control, and the voyeuristic tendencies of postmodern culture.  I trace the historical evolution of contemporary surveillance practices and develop conceptual frameworks for understanding them.  Of special concern are techniques and technologies such as closed circuit video cameras, privacy and surveillance online, genetic and biometric identifiers, as well as the development of an ethical and political response to surveillance practices.

Professor Bill Staples Curriculum Vitae (PDF)

 

Selected Publications

Editor-in-Chief, Encyclopedia of Privacy (Volumes 1-2). Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishers, 2006. http://www.greenwood.com/catalog/GR3477.aspx

“’Where Are You and What Are You Doing?’  Familial ‘Back Up Work’ as a Collateral Consequence of House Arrest.”  In Monitoring Children and Families, edited by M. Nelson and A.Garey. Forthcoming, 2008. 

“Technologies of the Body, Technologies of the Self: House Arrest as Neo-Liberal Governance” (with S.Decker). In Surveillance and Governance: Crime Control Today edited by M. Deflem. Forthcoming, 2008.