News & events
UK securitisation targeting ‘suspect communities’
Governments across the world have put into place a strategy of ‘securitisation’ whereby potentially all societal conflicts are portrayed as threats of disorder or malign enemies. ‘Security measures’ have become pervasive, supposedly to protect the public from threats such as ‘terrorism’, ‘extremism’ and ‘suspicious behaviour’. - Les Levidow & Saleh Mamon Campaign Against Criminalising Communities (CAMPACC) June 2014
These threats are defined so broadly and vaguely as to encompass potentially any social or political activity. Following the high-profile ‘war on terror’ since September 2001, the strategy normalises special powers to intimidate, punish and criminalise individuals.
In the name of security, entire communities have been turned into suspects – subjected to surveillance, preventative measures, restrictions on movement, secret evidence and punishment without trial. Through this global securitisation strategy, socio-political conflicts have been depoliticised and turned into technical-legal tasks of preventing disorder. This strategy disciplines society by imposing compliance and silencing dissent.
UK securitisation initiatives have targeted urban populations for several reasons. Cities host high-profile events, such as intergovernmental conferences or the Olympics, which provide opportunities for protests to gain mass-media coverage. As a global city, London links state agencies with multinational companies, alongside migrant communities which have fled from oppressive regimes allied with the UK, as well as Muslim diaspora communities hostile to UK military intervention in Muslim countries. Their protests can embarrass or even impede the UK’s global alliances, so ‘security’ measures aim to intimidate and deter dissent against UK foreign policy.
Read the full article here: http://campacc.org.uk/uploads/CAMPACC_UK%20Securitisation-final.doc
Article published in Critical Cities: Ideas, Knowledge and Agitation from Emerging Urbanists, Volume 4, 2014, http://thisisnotagateway.squarespace.com/critical-cities/ Book-collection of the January 2013 conference, http://thisisnotagateway.squarespace.com/2013-programme