SURVEILLANCE, CONTROL AND FEMALE AGENCY IN DIGITAL DYSTOPIAS IN BHATIA’S THE WALL: A CYBERFEMINIST STUDY

Abstract

Communication, identity, movement, and social participation are increasingly influenced by surveillance technologies. Governments, businesses, and digital platforms collect personal information through AI, biometrics, and social media technologies, making surveillance a subtle yet potent tool for social control. Dystopian literature depicts a world in which technology restricts individual freedom and strengthens institutional power, capturing these fears. In order to discuss the issue of surveillance, patriarchy, and gendered control in technologically managed societies, this paper examines Gautam Bhatia's cyberfeminist dystopian novel The Wall in light of the theories of Michel Foucault, Shanna Zuboff, and Donna Haraway. According to the research, The Wall is a physical and ideological barrier that makes social segregation, class inequality, and oppression of women worse. The novel's female characters are subjected to constant surveillance and constraint, but there are also brief instances of subtle resistance in the form of memory, emotional coping, and space negotiation. The study places the novel in the context of dystopian literature from South Asia, highlighting the novel's significance in international discussions of surveillance, gender politics, and digital authoritarianism. The study also emphasizes the significance of dystopian literature in examining the effects of technological power structures on marginalized groups, particularly women, in contemporary societies.