Le développement de dispositifs techniques de surveillance des espaces publics et la participation des habitants au maintien de l’ordre au Japon

Abstract

Concerned about a decline in confidence in the police and a weakening of social ties as a result of increasing urbanization, the Japanese police has focused on strengthening their local partnership with the general public, particularly from the 2000s onwards. Inspired by situational crime prevention, the Japanese State has oriented the planning of public spaces in this perspective and encouraged the development of surveillance technologies. This led to the development of surveillance networks in public spaces under the cover of "social bonding" and "protection", not only in commercial districts marked by a high number of visitors, but also in residential areas where local shops are often frequented by local residents. Fieldwork research and the study of legislative documents produced since the 1970s show that the preventive actions conducted by inhabitants also include an aspect of moral education directed at children, particularly in peri-urban areas. Surveillance technologies thus led to the legitimization of surveillance by the inhabitants, exercising a form of screening within the neighborhood.

Keywords

• Neighborhood
• Prevention
• Surveillance
• Public Space
• Police
• Participation