Satisfied Callers: Police and Corporate Customer Service in India

In 2013 the Indian state of Punjab contracted with a corporation to operate a new police phone helpline. The corporation not only takes complaints but also monitors, directs, and reports police responses to them. This talk explores the tensions and effects of using American techniques of customer service to promote procedural justice within police practices in India. Moving beyond a focus on privatization, it will explore the ideological, procedural, communicational, and technological practices through which police procedure is combined with corporate customer service.

BIO
Matthew Hull is Associate Professor of Anthropology at the University of Michigan. His research focuses on the nexus of representation, technology, and institutions. He is currently working on police communication systems and lotteries in India, and the history and theory of the modern corporation.