The idea of measurement (of bodies and identities) is a guiding principle of globalized surveillance in the War on Terror. Nevertheless, this inherently scientific notion is so naturalized in public and academic discourse that its meaning and implications are left undiscussed. This paper builds on quantum theory to present an immanent critique of measurement in surveillance. Foregrounding surveillance's transdisciplinary conceptual foundations, it argues that a notion of identity measurement centered on ambiguity and embodiment, rather than fixity and abstraction, reshapes the scope for political action and opens new avenues for critique. I suggest that a lack of critical engagement with the concept of measurement accounts for Surveillance Studies’ and International Political Sociology's difficulty in exploring the relation between the material–affective dimension of surveillance and its identity-fixing function. Challenging unquestioned notions of measurement in social science, quantum theory highlights the interconnected importance of ambiguity and embodiment in processes of identity measurement. Through the case of airport security, I illustrate how quantum measurement departs from recent critical accounts of surveillance—concerned with the fixity of unambiguous identities and the digital abstraction of bodies—and foregrounds the ambiguity of affect to postulate new forms of agency and resistance to the politics of surveillance.

中文翻译：

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量子测量的主题：反恐战争中的监视和影响

测量（身体和身份）的概念是反恐战争中全球化监视的指导原则。然而，这个固有的科学概念在公共和学术话语中是如此自然化，以至于其意义和含义未被讨论。本文以量子理论为基础，对监视中的测量进行了内在的批判。突出监视的跨学科概念基础，它认为以模糊性和具体化而不是固定性和抽象为中心的身份测量概念重塑了政治行动的范围，并为批评开辟了新的途径。我认为缺乏对测量概念的批判性参与是监视研究和国际政治社会学的原因 难以探索监视的物质情感维度与其身份固定功能之间的关系。挑战社会科学中毫无疑问的测量概念，量子理论强调了身份测量过程中模糊性和体现的相互关联的重要性。通过机场安全的案例，我说明了量子测量如何脱离最近对监视的批判性描述——关注明确身份的固定性和身体的数字抽象——并突出了情感的模糊性，以假设新的代理形式和抵抗监视政治。量子理论强调了身份测量过程中模糊性和具体化的相互关联的重要性。通过机场安全的案例，我说明了量子测量如何脱离最近对监视的批判性描述——关注明确身份的固定性和身体的数字抽象——并突出了情感的模糊性，以假设新的代理形式和抵抗监视政治。量子理论强调了身份测量过程中模糊性和具体化的相互关联的重要性。通过机场安全的案例，我说明了量子测量如何脱离最近对监视的批判性描述——关注明确身份的固定性和身体的数字抽象——并突出了情感的模糊性，以假设新的代理形式和抵抗监视政治。