ABSTRACT
This chapter purposes the story speaks to society's faith in mechanical solutions to problems. It emphasises that control or enforcement through material technology is only one of many control modalities intended to create rule adherence. The chapter deals with the broadest forms – the hard and soft engineered societies within which the others nestle and twirl. It argues that control often evades the grasp of the engineers and entrepreneurs who tout such technologies as the easy answer to problems of security and public safety. The chapter develops the idea of the uncertainty principle as applied to the outcomes of surveillance technologies. It considers a single case study of a Mexican government effort to monitor automobiles for the purposes of public security. The chapter highlights some of the obstacles facing social control through technology. A focus on surveillance, technology and social control is most prominent here.
