Flexible Faces: The History, Software, and Politics of Facial Recognit

Flexible Faces: The History, Software, and Politics of Facial Recognition, Volume 1, examines the evolution of facial recognition technologies from nineteenth-century classification efforts to modern smartphone integration. This computers non-fiction work analyzes how computer vision, machine learning, and artificial intelligence have made these systems ubiquitous. Aaron Tucker argues that the primary driver of this technology is a political project designed to make all individuals legible to the state.

The text traces the development of these tools through the work of Francis Galton and Woody Bledsoe, linking early eugenics to contemporary algorithmic control. It explores how events like the COVID-19 pandemic and 9/11 accelerated the use of these systems to manage mass mobility. Flexible Faces: The History, Software, and Politics of Facial Recognition concludes by proposing methods to resist and redirect the future of this software to prevent systemic oppression.