The Restorative Gaze

Abstract

This chapter examines the intersection of surveillance and restorative justice. It acknowledges the analysis of personal information integral to criminal justice processes and critiques practices of actuarial justice. The chapter is also cognisant of the shaping effect upon all parties of cultures of surveillance in everyday life. The motif of ‘surveillance from the cross’ is deployed in order to foreground the importance of solidarity with those under unjust and discriminatory surveillance. By considering the sacramental potential of technologies, space is opened for a critical and positive theological evaluation of surveillance in relational contexts. The notion of relational information is therefore proposed to recognise the tension between relational knowledge and digital information. Practical steps towards greater recognition of surveillance in restorative justice are commended.