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Cited by 332Biometric Identification and SecuritySouth African History and CultureAfrican history and culture studies

Biometric State: The Global Politics of Identification and Surveillance in South Africa, 1850 to the Present

Breckenridge, Keith·2014·Cambridge University Press eBooks
DOI 10.1017/cbo9781139939546
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Abstract

Biometric identification and registration systems are being proposed by governments and businesses across the world. Surprisingly they are under most rapid, and systematic, development in countries in Africa and Asia. In this groundbreaking book Keith Breckenridge traces how the origins of the systems being developed in places like India, Mexico, Nigeria and Ghana can be found in a century-long history of biometric government in South Africa, with the South African experience of centralized fingerprint identification unparalleled in its chronological depth and demographic scope. He shows how empire, and particularly the triangular relationship between India, the Witwatersrand and Britain, established the special South African obsession with biometric government, and shaped the international politics that developed around it for the length of the twentieth century. He also examines the political effects of biometric registration systems, revealing their consequences for the basic workings of the institutions of democracy and authoritarianism.

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  • Expansion of social protection has increased the demand for and supply of identity documentation, and more rapidly than coercive measures.

    “There is also evidence that expansion of social protection has increased the demand for and supply of identity documentation -and more rapidly than coercive measures (Breckenridge, 2014; Hunter &”

    From The Sustainable Development Goals and 'legal identity for all': 'First, do no harm' (2021) · cites this paper as Breckenridge, 2014

  • Registration and identification can function as an instrument to promote and monitor the realisation of equal rights, as in the post-apartheid government's repurposing of the registration of 'natives' to expand access to welfare benefits in South Africa.

    “or as an instrument to promote and monitor the realisation of equal rights, as in the postapartheid government's repurposing of the registration of 'natives' in order to expand access to welfare benefits in South Africa (Breckenridge, 2014).”

    From The Sustainable Development Goals and 'legal identity for all': 'First, do no harm' (2021) · cites this paper as Breckenridge, 2014

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Authors
Breckenridge, K.
Affiliations
University of the Witwatersrand (ZA)
Corresponding author
Breckenridge, Keith
ORCID
Breckenridge, Keith
Venue
Cambridge University Press eBooks
Publisher
Cambridge University Press
Published
2014-10-02
DOI
10.1017/cbo9781139939546
OpenAlex
W4236930441
Cited by
331
References
0
Citations by year
2026: 38 · 2025: 31 · 2024: 35 · 2023: 17 · 2022: 45 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 51 · 2019: 24 · 2018: 26 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 5 · 2015: 6 · 2014: 2
FWCI
3.65
Type
book
Language
en
Open access
closed
Licence
www.cambridge.org/core/terms (unspecified, 3 d)
Locations
Cambridge University Press eBooks (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Computer Science › Signal Processing › Biometric Identification and Security
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › South African History and Culture
  • Social Sciences › Anthropology › African history and culture studies
Keywords
biometric identification, biometric registration, fingerprint recognition, South African history, colonialism, British Empire, India, Witwatersrand, population control, democracy, authoritarianism, international politics

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