A new word for a new concept

Though new words are being thrust on us all the time, by though who fancy seeming cool, it isn't every day that you get a genuinely new concept which requires one.

Here I must, with some reluctance, give a hat tip to Mark Leonard. I was always a bit disdainful of him, as an early New Labour spin-doctor. I was even more so when opening this week's Spectator and seeing him described as "Britain's pre-eminent analyst of modern China", whereas that title belongs rightfully to none other than - well that is neither here nor there. Be that as it may, Mark referred to a couple of American academics who have pointed out that the Beijing Olympics might provide an opportunity to turn the surveillance state against itself, simply because so many people will be there with digital cameras. Monroe Price and Daniel Dayan (in Leonard's words) "use the phrase "Sousveillance" to capture a new phenomenon where the powerful can be filmed and held to account for their actions in the court of public opinion". Sousveillance - what a word. We use the technology at our disposal to put on record anything that the bastards don't want to see put on record. What other people choose to do about it is not our responsibility. I'm not a great photo and video expert, so I'll probably limit it to names and addresses.

Well, I happen to be listening to "Götterdämmerung" at the moment, and I swear a Wagnerian oath to dedicate myself to "sousveillance" at all times. Members of the ruling class that want their foul deeds covered up had better cover them up pretty damn well.