Security/Capital
A General Theory of Pacification
Published on 27. April 2016
Book
Hardback
156 pages
978-1-4744-1366-4 (ISBN)
Description
What is security, and what is its relationship to capitalism? George S. Rigakos' explosive treatise charts the rise of the security-industrial complex. Starting from a critical appraisal of 'productive labour' in the works of Karl Marx and Adam Smith, Rigakos builds a conceptual model of pacification based on practices of dispossession, exploitation and the fetish of security commodities. Rigakos argues that a defining characteristic of the global economic system is its ability to productively sell (in)security to those it makes insecure. Materially and ideologically, the security-industrial complex is the blast furnace of global capitalism, fuelling the perpetuation of the system while feeding relentlessly on the surpluses it has exacted.
Reviews / Votes
In an age when capital wins time and again and everyone from politicians to academics insist that we must all bow down in the name of security, this book challenges the power of both. The outcome is a radical deployment of the concept of pacification which will transform our understanding of the wars carried out in the name of security/capital. -- Mark Neocleous, Brunel University In this powerful interrogation, Rigakos clarifies and extends pacification theory by showing the intimate connection between capitalism and (in)security, historically and here today. His passionate message is that no vision of a post-capitalist future can afford not to take security seriously. -- Georgios Papanicolaou, Teesside UniversityMore details
Language
English
Place of publication
Edinburgh
United Kingdom
Target group
College/higher education
Product notice
sewn/stitched
Cloth over boards
Dimensions
Height: 201 mm
Width: 132 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
272 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-4744-1366-4 (9781474413664)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
George S. Rigakos is Professor of the Political Economy of Policing at Carleton University. He has researched and published on policing and security for over a dozen years. Rigakos is also the Editor of Red Quill Books and is one of the founding members of the Anti-security Studies Group. Most recently he has acted as a policy consultant with Syriza and Transform Europe.
Content
Acknowledgements; Introduction: Security Under Capitalism; 1. Productive Labour; 2. Dispossession; 3. Exploitation; 4. The Security Commodity; 5. Security is Hegemony; 6. The Productivity of Security; Conclusions: Security After Capitalism; Bibliography; Index.