surveillésurveillée

Surveillésurveillée is a neologism used in French-language discussions of surveillance to denote a bidirectional or reciprocal dynamic in which observers and the observed are entangled in a single, sometimes indistinguishable circuit of monitoring. The term is a portmanteau that combines surveillé (the one who is watched) and surveillée (the one who watches or the watched in feminine form) to emphasize reciprocity, mutual surveillance, and the diffusion of monitoring roles across actors, technologies, and institutions.

In concept, surveillésurveillée denotes more than a simple top-down form of control. It captures how surveillance circulates through social practices, digital platforms, and institutional norms so that individuals both watch others and are watched themselves, often through self-regulation. The phenomenon can involve human auditors, automated systems, and the norms that structure behavior. It highlights the permeability of traditional categories of watcher and watched, and it foregrounds how power operates through visibility, data collection, and norm enforcement in everyday life.

Contexts where the concept is discussed include digital environments, workplaces, and public spaces. On digital platforms, for example, user data is collected to profile behavior while users curate content and interactions to project a desired image and anticipate monitoring by others. In workplaces, performance surveillance coexists with self-monitoring and peer feedback, creating an environment where vigilance is distributed rather than centralized.

Critics note that the term can be controversial or overly broad, and its applicability may vary by context. Nevertheless, surveillésurveillée serves as a concise way to describe the increasingly ubiquitous, bidirectional nature of contemporary surveillance dynamics.