6. Surveillance and Perceptions of Safety

The previous arguments have focused on the idea that visual control from WF1415 was a method of discipline. This may not have been the only reason for the creation of an observational system, and a different interpretation is that surveillance increased feelings of safety within the Qalb. This concept has been discussed most recently regarding the ubiquity of Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in modern life (see Norris et al. 2004). The effect of these cameras as a deterrent to crime is still uncertain; however, some studies indicate that in some instances the public had increased perceptions of security as a result of their presence (Honess and Charman 1992, 22). In a similar fashion the surveillance system of Wadi Ratiye could have generated feelings of safety. This response might have served to increase dependence on the administration, as the towers of WF1415 may have indicated to the workers that areas out of view were unsafe. The imposing structure of WF1415 may have had a positive psychological effect. Mining was a dangerous occupation and WF1415 was material proof of the administration's ability to organise and engineer. It was a solid, powerful building that was visible from the majority of the landscape, and from it the administration could monitor the industry and provide help if required. Surveillance may also have reassured the free miners that convict revolts would be detected and suppressed, even if they themselves were sometimes in conflict with the administration. Improved morale inspired by greater feelings of safety would increase the industrial productivity.

Other studies suggest that the sight of surveillance structures like CCTV lowers perceptions of security. The public feels that the area is unsafe because it requires surveillance, 'the marker effect' (Zurawski nd, 1; Gill and Spriggs 2005, 58). Surveillance in the Wadi Ratiye may have fostered fear, sowing distrust and dividing the convict population from the miners to prevent them from acting together. However, unlike CCTV, surveillance in Wadi Ratiye was not depersonalised and applied impartially. The references by Eusebius to the brutalisation and maiming of convicts suggest that the main motive of the authorities was not to inspire confidence in this population but to establish the hegemony of the administration. The enclosing walls of WF1415 and its massive architecture separated authorities from free miners both physically and socially. Miners knew that the observers were of a different class and status, and from the treatment of the convicts knew that violence was a possibility. While at times a surveillance system may have provided comfort for the workforce, this would have been an unintended outcome.

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