The Surveillant Assemblage: A Critical Reading of Dave Eggers’ The Circle As Today’s Dystopia

Surveillance studies have gained momentum in today's societies. These studies have put forward various theorems on surveillance since the states and/or corporations' purposes of monitoring people are nebulous and open to discussion. However, the dystopian aspect of surveillance holds a common ground in most of these studies. No doubt, they have a fair share in their discussion since the growing fear of surveillance societies deeply instilled in the worlds of the futuristic-dystopian fiction has become a fact of our present world. That is, surveillance society has become today's dystopia. Unlike the Foucaldian panopticon, surveillance in today's society is relatively more complex and decentralized. This kind of surveillance is, what Haggerty and Ericson call, “the surveillant assemblage”. Dave Eggers' The Circle is perhaps one of the best examples that portray it blatantly. As it shows us the complexities of the surveillant assemblage, it portrays its role to destroy individual zone by making them the willing agents to expose themselves to full transparency. This will eventually lead to the demise of the individual. With this purpose in mind, this research article examines Dave Eggers's The Circle as today's dystopia by giving utmost consideration to Haggerty and Ericson's theory of surveillant assemblage and its discontents.