The Sociology of Privatized Security

The Sociology of Privatized Security PDF Author: Ori Swed
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319982222
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

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Book Description
The first book dedicated to the sociology of privatized security, this collection studies the important global trend of shifting security from public to private hands and the associated rise of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) and their contractors. The volume first explores the trend itself, making important historical and theoretical revisions to the existing social science of private security. These chapters discuss why rulers buy, rent and create private militaries, why mercenaries have become private patriots, and why the legitimacy of military missions is undermined by the use of contractors. The next section challenges the idea that states have a monopoly on legitimate violence and questions our legal and economic assumptions about private security. The collection concludes with a discussion of the contractors themselves, focusing on gender, race, ethnicity, and other demographic factors. Featuring a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods and a range of theoretical and methodological innovations, this book will inspire sociologists to examine, with fresh eyes, the behind-the-scenes tension between the high drama of war and conflict and the mundane realities of privatized security contractors and their everyday lives.

The Sociology of Privatized Security

The Sociology of Privatized Security PDF Author: Ori Swed
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319982222
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Get Book Here

Book Description
The first book dedicated to the sociology of privatized security, this collection studies the important global trend of shifting security from public to private hands and the associated rise of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) and their contractors. The volume first explores the trend itself, making important historical and theoretical revisions to the existing social science of private security. These chapters discuss why rulers buy, rent and create private militaries, why mercenaries have become private patriots, and why the legitimacy of military missions is undermined by the use of contractors. The next section challenges the idea that states have a monopoly on legitimate violence and questions our legal and economic assumptions about private security. The collection concludes with a discussion of the contractors themselves, focusing on gender, race, ethnicity, and other demographic factors. Featuring a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods and a range of theoretical and methodological innovations, this book will inspire sociologists to examine, with fresh eyes, the behind-the-scenes tension between the high drama of war and conflict and the mundane realities of privatized security contractors and their everyday lives.

Policing for Profit

Policing for Profit PDF Author: Nigel South
Publisher: SAGE Publications Limited
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 196

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Book Description
Private policing has long existed alongside the official policing activities of the state. The private security sector fills a wide variety of roles such as private investigations, transportation of cash and valuables, industrial security, protection of commercial premises and restriction of customer theft and staff pilfering. Evidence from a number of countries demonstrates that policing for profit has grown substantially in recent years and continues to develop and diversify in response to social concerns about rising crime. In this book Nigel South examines the growth and significance of the private security sector. Concentrating on new research on the British experience, but drawing on comparative material from the U.S.A., Canada and Europe, the author clarifies the different commercial functions served by private policing. In particular he analyzes the key problems surrounding public accountability of private security. What issues does private policing pose for civil liberties and public policy, and how should it be controlled in terms of licensing and regulation? Policing for Profit will be of interest to criminologists and sociologists as well as to all those concerned with the changing face of modern policing, crime prevention and civil liberties. "Nigel South examines Britain's fast growing private security sector, focusing on civil liberties issues and public policy remedies. His book helps to fill a knowledge gap left since Hilary Draper's 1978 study Private Police . . . . South's book is broader in scope: he makes a major contribution by providing a sociological perspective and a structural critique . . . (practitioners) and the general reader will find his clearly written study a valuable resource." --Social Justice "There is so much in this heavily descriptive account that will inform and correct the debate on the control and accountability of private security." --Contemporary Sociology "South's study of private security adds significantly to the body of critical works [in the field]. . . . The book is an important review of the debates on the pervasiveness of society's shadow policing, which, like private justice in general, is so often mistakenly marginalized in assessing the significance of social control." --Contemporary Sociology "Both welcome and timely. The book provides a very comprehensive review of available knowledge and current debates about private security, with particular emphasis on developments and responses to them in Britain. . . . South's book constitutes a welcome and significant starting point." --British Journal of Criminology "A welcome addition to the analysis of the provate security field. . . . One of the most comprehensive and critically researched reviews of the private security field, to date. His treatment of the issues of public accountability, civil liberties, licensing, regulation, and public policy makes a major contribution to the critique of this complex and growing form of social control. . . . In In a well-written and comprehensive format, South describes a wide range of services and technology designed fot ethe prevention of loss and preservation of profit. . . . South's critique not only presents issues for us to ponder but it also suggests a thoughtful response to these issues. Policing for Profit is an important contribution to private security research that should enhance the debate surrounding this area of social control. It is appropriate reading for anyone interested in the analysis of the forces of societal order anmd control as well as the preservation of individual freedom and justice. The reader of this workl will achieve a deeper understanding of the implications private security has for modern social control and the policing of society." --American Journal of Police

Security Beyond the State

Security Beyond the State PDF Author: Rita Abrahamsen
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139493124
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
Across the globe, from mega-cities to isolated resource enclaves, the provision and governance of security takes place within assemblages that are de-territorialized in terms of actors, technologies, norms and discourses. They are embedded in a complex transnational architecture, defying conventional distinctions between public and private, global and local. Drawing on theories of globalization and late modernity, along with insights from criminology, political science and sociology, Security Beyond the State maps the emergence of the global private security sector and develops a novel analytical framework for understanding these global security assemblages. Through in-depth examinations of four African countries – Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and South Africa – it demonstrates how global security assemblages affect the distribution of social power, the dynamics of state stability, and the operations of the international political economy, with significant implications for who gets secured and how in a global era.

Private Security and the Modern State

Private Security and the Modern State PDF Author: David Churchill
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 0429590458
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 269

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Book Description
Based on extensive research in several international contexts, this volume provides a nuanced assessment of the historical evolution of private security and its fluid, contested and mutually constitutive relationship with state agencies, public policing and the criminal justice system. This book provides an overview of the history of private security provision in its multiple forms including detective agencies, insurance companies, moral campaigners, employers’ associations, paramilitary organizations, self-protection and vigilantism. It also explores the historical evolution of private policing and security provision in a diverse set of temporal, national and international contexts and compares the interactions between public and private security bodies, structures, strategies and practices in different countries, cultures and settings. In doing so, the volume fills the existing gaps in historical knowledge about the emergence of private and public security organizations and provides a more robust understanding of changes in the division of responsibility for security provision, law enforcement and punishment between public and private institutions. This wide-ranging volume will be of great interest to scholars and students of history, criminology, sociology, political science, international relations, security studies, surveillance studies, policing, criminal justice and law.

Private Security

Private Security PDF Author: Charles P. Nemeth
Publisher: CRC Press
ISBN: 1498723365
Category : Computers
Languages : en
Pages : 1401

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Book Description
There are few textbooks available that outline the foundation of security principles while reflecting the modern practices of private security as an industry. Private Security: An Introduction to Principles and Practice takes a new approach to the subject of private sector security that will be welcome addition to the field. The book focuses on the recent history of the industry and the growing dynamic between private sector security and public safety and law enforcement. Coverage will include history and security theory, but emphasis is on current practice, reflecting the technology-driven, fast-paced, global security environment. Such topics covered include a history of the security industry, security law, risk management, physical security, Human Resources and personnel, investigations, institutional and industry-specific security, crisis and emergency planning, critical infrastructure protection, IT and computer security, and more. Rather than being reduced to single chapter coverage, homeland security and terrorism concepts are referenced throughout the book, as appropriate. Currently, it vital that private security entities work with public sector authorities seamlessly—at the state and federal levels—to share information and understand emerging risks and threats. This modern era of security requires an ongoing, holistic focus on the impact and implications of global terror incidents; as such, the book’s coverage of topics consciously takes this approach throughout. Highlights include: Details the myriad changes in security principles, and the practice of private security, particularly since 9/11 Focuses on both foundational theory but also examines current best practices—providing sample forms, documents, job descriptions, and functions—that security professionals must understand to perform and succeed Outlines the distinct, but growing, roles of private sector security companies versus the expansion of federal and state law enforcement security responsibilities Includes key terms, learning objectives, end of chapter questions, Web exercises, and numerous references—throughout the book—to enhance student learning Presents the full range of career options available for those looking entering the field of private security Includes nearly 400 full-color figures, illustrations, and photographs. Private Security: An Introduction to Principles and Practice provides the most comprehensive, up-to-date coverage of modern security issues and practices on the market. Professors will appreciate the new, fresh approach, while students get the most "bang for their buck," insofar as the real-world knowledge and tools needed to tackle their career in the ever-growing field of private industry security. An instructor’s manual with Exam questions, lesson plans, and chapter PowerPoint® slides are available upon qualified course adoption.

Routledge Handbook of Private Security Studies

Routledge Handbook of Private Security Studies PDF Author: Rita Abrahamsen
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317914325
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 425

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Book Description
This new Handbook offers a comprehensive overview of current research on private security and military companies, comprising essays by leading scholars from around the world. The increasing privatization of security across the globe has been the subject of much debate and controversy, inciting fears of private warfare and even the collapse of the state. This volume provides the first comprehensive overview of the range of issues raised by contemporary security privatization, offering both a survey of the numerous roles performed by private actors and an analysis of their implications and effects. Ranging from the mundane to the spectacular, from secretive intelligence gathering and neighbourhood surveillance to piracy control and warfare, this Handbook shows how private actors are involved in both domestic and international security provision and governance. It places this involvement in historical perspective, and demonstrates how the impact of security privatization goes well beyond the security field to influence diverse social, economic and political relationships and institutions. Finally, this volume analyses the evolving regulation of the global private security sector. Seeking to overcome the disciplinary boundaries that have plagued the study of private security, the Handbook promotes an interdisciplinary approach and contains contributions from a range of disciplines, including international relations, politics, criminology, law, sociology, geography and anthropology. This book will be of much interest to students of private security companies, global governance, military studies, security studies and IR in general.

The Market for Force

The Market for Force PDF Author: Deborah D. Avant
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 9781139446549
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 332

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Book Description
The legitimate use of force is generally presumed to be the realm of the state. However, the flourishing role of the private sector in security over the last twenty years has brought this into question. In this book Deborah Avant examines the privatization of security and its impact on the control of force. She describes the growth of private security companies, explains how the industry works, and describes its range of customers – including states, non-government organisations and commercial transnational corporations. She charts the inevitable trade-offs that the market for force imposes on the states, firms and people wishing to control it, suggests a new way to think about the control of force, and offers a model of institutional analysis that draws on both economic and sociological reasoning. The book contains case studies drawn from the US and Europe as well as Africa and the Middle East.

Private Security in Africa

Private Security in Africa PDF Author: Doctor Paul Higate
Publisher: Zed Books Ltd.
ISBN: 178699027X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
Across Africa, growing economic inequality, instability and urbanization have led to the rapid spread of private security providers. While these PSPs have already had a significant impact on African societies, their impact has so far received little in the way of comprehensive analysis. Drawing on a wide range of disciplinary approaches, and encompassing anthropology, sociology and political science, Private Security in Africa offers unique insight into the lives and experiences of security providers and those affected by them, as well as into the fragile state context which has allowed them to thrive. Featuring original empirical research and case studies ranging from private policing in South Africa to the recruitment of Sierra Leoneans for private security work in Iraq, the book considers the full implications of PSPs for security and the state, not only for Africa but for the world as a whole.

Private Military and Security Companies

Private Military and Security Companies PDF Author: Andrew Alexandra
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1134081863
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 311

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Book Description
Over the past twenty years, Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) have become significant elements of national security arrangements, assuming many of the functions that have traditionally been undertaken by state armies. Given the centrality of control over the use of coercive force to the functioning and identity of the modern state, and to international order, these developments clearly are of great practical and conceptual interest. This edited volume provides an interdisciplinary overview of PMSCs: what they are, why they have emerged in their current form, how they operate, their current and likely future military, political, social and economic impact, and the moral and legal constraints that do and should apply to their operation. The book focuses firstly upon normative issues raised by the development of PMSCs, and then upon state regulation and policy towards PMSCs, examining finally the impact of PMSCs on civil-military relations. It takes an innovative approach, bringing theory and empirical research into mutually illuminating contact. Includes contributions from experts in IR, political theory, international and corporate law, and economics, and also breaks important new ground by including philosophical discussions of PMSCs.

Democracy, Society and the Governance of Security

Democracy, Society and the Governance of Security PDF Author: Jennifer Wood
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
ISBN: 1139450751
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 231

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Book Description
The promotion of security is no longer a state monopoly. It is dispersed and takes place through the practices of states, corporations, non-governmental actors and community-based organizations. But what do we know about the ways in which 'security' is thought about and promoted in this pluralized field of delivery? Are democratic values being advanced and protected, or threatened and compromised? Wood and Dupont bring together a team of renowned scholars to shed light on our understanding of the arrangements for contemporary security governance. Offering a 'friendly dialogue' between those who argue that democratic transformation rests in the development of strong state institutions and those who propose a more de-centered agenda, the scholars in this volume bring cutting-edge theoretical analyses to bear on empirical examples. This volume will appeal to researchers in the fields of criminology, political science, sociology and security studies.