Breaking the order: The intended and unintended consequences of countersurveillance

Sousveillance, or surveillance of the government from below, has been acknowledged as an empowering act of civil society that can put the government in check. With its increasing popularity in academic and popular circles comes a need to better understand its implications, its intended, and unintended consequences. It remains unclear if sousveillance is just another form of protest or if, like surveillance, it can promote compliance and panopticism. Using data from interviews, peace organizations reports, and open sources. I examine peace movements’ sousveillance of checkpoint missions in the West Bank, exploring the association between the level of social pressure applied via sousveillance and whether that is associated with compliance or resistance. I argue that sousveillance can be panoptic and lead to compliance. However, this is true only when the subjects observed feel they are not pressed too much. Too much pressure, in the form of aggressive or invasive sousveillance, can trig