Samuel Justin Sinclair and Daniel Antonius
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195388114
- eISBN:
- 9780199949816
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195388114.003.0006
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
This chapter discusses how governments and agencies communicate terrorism threat to the general public and the potential negative consequences such threat dissemination may have on individuals and ...
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This chapter discusses how governments and agencies communicate terrorism threat to the general public and the potential negative consequences such threat dissemination may have on individuals and societies. Special focus is given to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Advisory System, the terrorism alert system that was implemented in the United States in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, although other international alert systems are also discussed (e.g., United Kingdom and France). Drawing on scientific research, this chapter also discusses how the Homeland Security Advisory System (as well as other similar terrorism alert systems) may actually exacerbate fears, stress, and anxiety in the general public. Further, using research as a frame, this chapter provides suggestions for how to disseminate threat information to different strata of the population, including how much information to disseminate, how specific it should be, and how to deliver it in the most effective way—to avoid frustration and fear, and promote preparedness and understanding.Less
This chapter discusses how governments and agencies communicate terrorism threat to the general public and the potential negative consequences such threat dissemination may have on individuals and societies. Special focus is given to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Advisory System, the terrorism alert system that was implemented in the United States in the aftermath of Sept. 11, 2001, although other international alert systems are also discussed (e.g., United Kingdom and France). Drawing on scientific research, this chapter also discusses how the Homeland Security Advisory System (as well as other similar terrorism alert systems) may actually exacerbate fears, stress, and anxiety in the general public. Further, using research as a frame, this chapter provides suggestions for how to disseminate threat information to different strata of the population, including how much information to disseminate, how specific it should be, and how to deliver it in the most effective way—to avoid frustration and fear, and promote preparedness and understanding.
Steven Hurst
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748627400
- eISBN:
- 9780748671946
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748627400.003.0007
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
Before the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States's homeland defence policy focused on threats from state, rather than from non-state, actors. In December 2000, the Gilmore ...
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Before the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States's homeland defence policy focused on threats from state, rather than from non-state, actors. In December 2000, the Gilmore Commission reported that ‘the organisation of the Federal Government's programs for combating terrorism is fragmented, uncoordinated, and politically unaccountable’. Despite that warning, the administration of George W. Bush paid little attention to the terrorist threat before September 11. Since that date, in contrast, the Bush administration engaged in the biggest governmental reorganisation in half a century in an effort better to protect the United States from terrorist attack. According to one official involved in homeland security, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the centrepiece of Bush's organisational reforms, is ‘so dysfunctional, and so destructive to agency functions, that it should be dismantled’. This chapter assesses the Bush administration's efforts to improve homeland security by transforming the homeland security bureaucracy. It also discusses the politics of homeland security and the organisational challenges faced by the Bush administration in trying to reform homeland security.Less
Before the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States's homeland defence policy focused on threats from state, rather than from non-state, actors. In December 2000, the Gilmore Commission reported that ‘the organisation of the Federal Government's programs for combating terrorism is fragmented, uncoordinated, and politically unaccountable’. Despite that warning, the administration of George W. Bush paid little attention to the terrorist threat before September 11. Since that date, in contrast, the Bush administration engaged in the biggest governmental reorganisation in half a century in an effort better to protect the United States from terrorist attack. According to one official involved in homeland security, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), the centrepiece of Bush's organisational reforms, is ‘so dysfunctional, and so destructive to agency functions, that it should be dismantled’. This chapter assesses the Bush administration's efforts to improve homeland security by transforming the homeland security bureaucracy. It also discusses the politics of homeland security and the organisational challenges faced by the Bush administration in trying to reform homeland security.
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226257433
- eISBN:
- 9780226257457
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226257457.003.0007
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter discusses the context building aspect of homeland security work. These tasks involve defining hazards, identifying targets and vulnerabilities, meshing homeland security with existing ...
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This chapter discusses the context building aspect of homeland security work. These tasks involve defining hazards, identifying targets and vulnerabilities, meshing homeland security with existing concepts of emergency management and security, and creating a shared sense of community among the involved organizations. The chapter also explains that the business of determining the conceptual and practical boundaries is coupled with the need to build a community of people who could reliably come together to make these decisions and act on them.Less
This chapter discusses the context building aspect of homeland security work. These tasks involve defining hazards, identifying targets and vulnerabilities, meshing homeland security with existing concepts of emergency management and security, and creating a shared sense of community among the involved organizations. The chapter also explains that the business of determining the conceptual and practical boundaries is coupled with the need to build a community of people who could reliably come together to make these decisions and act on them.
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226257433
- eISBN:
- 9780226257457
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226257457.003.0004
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter discusses the process of finding the community suitable for this study of homeland security in the United States. It describes the difficulties of access and finding the community amid ...
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This chapter discusses the process of finding the community suitable for this study of homeland security in the United States. It describes the difficulties of access and finding the community amid the forest of organizations, and explores the generative properties of practice within the policy community, drawing on themes from globalization theory. The chapter also argues in support of the claim that homeland security in the greater Boston area was being practiced through a policy community.Less
This chapter discusses the process of finding the community suitable for this study of homeland security in the United States. It describes the difficulties of access and finding the community amid the forest of organizations, and explores the generative properties of practice within the policy community, drawing on themes from globalization theory. The chapter also argues in support of the claim that homeland security in the greater Boston area was being practiced through a policy community.
Kerry B. Fosher
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226257433
- eISBN:
- 9780226257457
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226257457.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, security became the paramount concern of virtually everyone involved in governing the United States. While the public's most enduring memories of that ...
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In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, security became the paramount concern of virtually everyone involved in governing the United States. While the public's most enduring memories of that time involved the actions of the Bush administration or Congress, the day-to-day reality of homeland security was worked out at the local level. The author, having begun an anthropological study of counterterrorism in Boston a few months prior to the attacks, thus found herself in a unique position to observe the formation of an immensely important area of government practice. This book goes behind the headlines and beyond official policy to describe the human activities, emotions, relationships, and decisions that shaped the way most Americans experienced homeland security. The author's two years of fieldwork focused on how responders and planners actually worked, illuminating the unofficial strategies that allowed them to resolve conflicts and get things done in the absence of a functioning bureaucracy. Given her unprecedented access, the author's account is an opportunity to see how seemingly monolithic institutions are constructed, maintained, and potentially transformed by a community of people.Less
In the aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, security became the paramount concern of virtually everyone involved in governing the United States. While the public's most enduring memories of that time involved the actions of the Bush administration or Congress, the day-to-day reality of homeland security was worked out at the local level. The author, having begun an anthropological study of counterterrorism in Boston a few months prior to the attacks, thus found herself in a unique position to observe the formation of an immensely important area of government practice. This book goes behind the headlines and beyond official policy to describe the human activities, emotions, relationships, and decisions that shaped the way most Americans experienced homeland security. The author's two years of fieldwork focused on how responders and planners actually worked, illuminating the unofficial strategies that allowed them to resolve conflicts and get things done in the absence of a functioning bureaucracy. Given her unprecedented access, the author's account is an opportunity to see how seemingly monolithic institutions are constructed, maintained, and potentially transformed by a community of people.
Dee Garrison
- Published in print:
- 2006
- Published Online:
- September 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780195183191
- eISBN:
- 9780199788804
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195183191.003.0009
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
This epilogue discusses the death of civil defense proclaimed by President George H. W. Bush and then by President Bill Clinton, followed by its resurrection in 2001. The current Homeland Security ...
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This epilogue discusses the death of civil defense proclaimed by President George H. W. Bush and then by President Bill Clinton, followed by its resurrection in 2001. The current Homeland Security provisions are compared to previous civil defense measures. The emergence of a large grassroots resistance movement against the Patriot Act is described.Less
This epilogue discusses the death of civil defense proclaimed by President George H. W. Bush and then by President Bill Clinton, followed by its resurrection in 2001. The current Homeland Security provisions are compared to previous civil defense measures. The emergence of a large grassroots resistance movement against the Patriot Act is described.
John Mueller and Mark G. Stewart
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- February 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199795758
- eISBN:
- 9780190252571
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199795758.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter examines the costs and benefits of increases in homeland security spending since 2001 in the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia. It concludes that increases in American homeland security ...
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This chapter examines the costs and benefits of increases in homeland security spending since 2001 in the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia. It concludes that increases in American homeland security expenditures have been wildly inefficient. To be considered cost-effective in analyses that substantially bias the consideration toward the opposite conclusion, the enhanced expenditures each year would have had to have deterred, foiled, or protected against as many as 1,667 otherwise successful terrorist acts, roughly like the one intended on Times Square in 2010, or more than four per day. While increases in overall security spending have been much lower in the UK, Canada, and Australia, they still fail a cost-benefit evaluation.Less
This chapter examines the costs and benefits of increases in homeland security spending since 2001 in the US, the UK, Canada, and Australia. It concludes that increases in American homeland security expenditures have been wildly inefficient. To be considered cost-effective in analyses that substantially bias the consideration toward the opposite conclusion, the enhanced expenditures each year would have had to have deterred, foiled, or protected against as many as 1,667 otherwise successful terrorist acts, roughly like the one intended on Times Square in 2010, or more than four per day. While increases in overall security spending have been much lower in the UK, Canada, and Australia, they still fail a cost-benefit evaluation.
John Mueller and Mark G. Stewart
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- February 2015
- ISBN:
- 9780199795758
- eISBN:
- 9780190252571
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199795758.003.0010
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This introductory chapter assesses the massive increase in homeland security expenditures in the wake of 9/11. It suggests that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) focuses all or almost all of ...
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This introductory chapter assesses the massive increase in homeland security expenditures in the wake of 9/11. It suggests that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) focuses all or almost all of its analyses on the contemplation of the consequences of a terrorist attack while substantially ignoring the equally important likelihood component of risk assessment, as well as the key issue of risk reduction. In general, risk assessment seems to be simply a process of identifying a potential source of harm and then trying to do something about it without evaluating whether the new measures reduce risk sufficiently to justify their costs. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.Less
This introductory chapter assesses the massive increase in homeland security expenditures in the wake of 9/11. It suggests that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) focuses all or almost all of its analyses on the contemplation of the consequences of a terrorist attack while substantially ignoring the equally important likelihood component of risk assessment, as well as the key issue of risk reduction. In general, risk assessment seems to be simply a process of identifying a potential source of harm and then trying to do something about it without evaluating whether the new measures reduce risk sufficiently to justify their costs. An overview of the subsequent chapters is also presented.
Daniel Kanstroom
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780199742721
- eISBN:
- 9780199950348
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199742721.003.0002
- Subject:
- Law, Human Rights and Immigration
The chapter considers the goals of the deportation system in light of U.S. immigration history, policies, and self-definition as a ‘nation of immigrants.’ It offers a functional definition of ...
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The chapter considers the goals of the deportation system in light of U.S. immigration history, policies, and self-definition as a ‘nation of immigrants.’ It offers a functional definition of deportation and distinguishes extended border control (aimed at illegal immigration) from post-entry social control. It also notes the ethnic and racial aspects of the system and how it relates to crime and national security goals. It examines the culture of ICE and the Department of Homeland Security and examines such programs as the Secure Borders Initiative and Secure Communities.Less
The chapter considers the goals of the deportation system in light of U.S. immigration history, policies, and self-definition as a ‘nation of immigrants.’ It offers a functional definition of deportation and distinguishes extended border control (aimed at illegal immigration) from post-entry social control. It also notes the ethnic and racial aspects of the system and how it relates to crime and national security goals. It examines the culture of ICE and the Department of Homeland Security and examines such programs as the Secure Borders Initiative and Secure Communities.
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226257433
- eISBN:
- 9780226257457
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226257457.003.0008
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter addresses how the work of homeland security gets done. It identifies the key roles and categories of individual innovators who were able to stretch or step outside normal boundaries to ...
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This chapter addresses how the work of homeland security gets done. It identifies the key roles and categories of individual innovators who were able to stretch or step outside normal boundaries to suggest and teach and learn, and explores the tension between the desire for local autonomy and flexibility and the pressures to codify practice and institutionalize relationships. The chapter analyzes the role of affiliations, relationships, and community channels in practice, and considers the role of temporary, task-based organization as a means of resisting the institutionalization of community relationships.Less
This chapter addresses how the work of homeland security gets done. It identifies the key roles and categories of individual innovators who were able to stretch or step outside normal boundaries to suggest and teach and learn, and explores the tension between the desire for local autonomy and flexibility and the pressures to codify practice and institutionalize relationships. The chapter analyzes the role of affiliations, relationships, and community channels in practice, and considers the role of temporary, task-based organization as a means of resisting the institutionalization of community relationships.
Eugene Bardach
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- August 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780262012980
- eISBN:
- 9780262259064
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- The MIT Press
- DOI:
- 10.7551/mitpress/9780262012980.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, Conflict Politics and Policy
This chapter examines the capacity of policy institutions to respond to the WMD threat. It considers five elements of adaptive capacity in the institutional system, and asks whether these are ...
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This chapter examines the capacity of policy institutions to respond to the WMD threat. It considers five elements of adaptive capacity in the institutional system, and asks whether these are currently effective and cost-efficient or are moving on a reasonable trajectory in these directions. They are (i) mobilizing sufficient resources; (ii) expending resources wisely; (iii) involving the private sector; (iv) creating and improving institutional capacity; and (v) governmental learning. The mainstream consensus among experts is that the mobilization of resources falls short, though probably not disastrously so. Such resources as we deploy are targeted about as well as government does such targeting generally. But spending and targeting money appears to be easier than building the needed institutional capacity — that is, fixing our public bureaucracies and getting them to work together — and in this regard homeland security resembles government generally.Less
This chapter examines the capacity of policy institutions to respond to the WMD threat. It considers five elements of adaptive capacity in the institutional system, and asks whether these are currently effective and cost-efficient or are moving on a reasonable trajectory in these directions. They are (i) mobilizing sufficient resources; (ii) expending resources wisely; (iii) involving the private sector; (iv) creating and improving institutional capacity; and (v) governmental learning. The mainstream consensus among experts is that the mobilization of resources falls short, though probably not disastrously so. Such resources as we deploy are targeted about as well as government does such targeting generally. But spending and targeting money appears to be easier than building the needed institutional capacity — that is, fixing our public bureaucracies and getting them to work together — and in this regard homeland security resembles government generally.
Andrew Wroe and Jon Herbert (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- September 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780748627400
- eISBN:
- 9780748671946
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748627400.001.0001
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
In one of the first volumes assessing the full two terms of the George W. Bush presidency, this book has gathered the work of leading American and European scholars. In fifteen chapters, authorities ...
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In one of the first volumes assessing the full two terms of the George W. Bush presidency, this book has gathered the work of leading American and European scholars. In fifteen chapters, authorities offer assessments of the Bush administration's successes and failures. Extensive attention is paid to Bush's foreign policy, including ‘The War on Terror’, but the focus is broadened to absorb not only the Bush Doctrine and its repercussions, but also his trade and homeland security policies. The president's domestic leadership in economics and social policy is investigated, as are his dealings as president with the other institutions of the U.S. political system.Less
In one of the first volumes assessing the full two terms of the George W. Bush presidency, this book has gathered the work of leading American and European scholars. In fifteen chapters, authorities offer assessments of the Bush administration's successes and failures. Extensive attention is paid to Bush's foreign policy, including ‘The War on Terror’, but the focus is broadened to absorb not only the Bush Doctrine and its repercussions, but also his trade and homeland security policies. The president's domestic leadership in economics and social policy is investigated, as are his dealings as president with the other institutions of the U.S. political system.
Simon Ortiz and Gabriele Schwab (eds)
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520098701
- eISBN:
- 9780520943797
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520098701.003.0005
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Global
This chapter takes the historical event of September 11, 2001 out of its context and traces aspects of its idiosyncratic, scattered, and emotionally charged experience, which resulted in the ...
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This chapter takes the historical event of September 11, 2001 out of its context and traces aspects of its idiosyncratic, scattered, and emotionally charged experience, which resulted in the militarization of America in the name of homeland security. Rather than offering a political analysis, the chapter presents a sequence of personal responses that try to retain, even emphasize, the messiness, ambiguity, and the contradictory nature of remembered immediacy. It is composed of dialogical encounters of memory pieces that reveal incidents related to World War 2 and the postwar generations and their effects on the psyche of people who encountered those events. A faint synopsis is drawn from past events of the American approach and how it shaped the world, for better or for worse.Less
This chapter takes the historical event of September 11, 2001 out of its context and traces aspects of its idiosyncratic, scattered, and emotionally charged experience, which resulted in the militarization of America in the name of homeland security. Rather than offering a political analysis, the chapter presents a sequence of personal responses that try to retain, even emphasize, the messiness, ambiguity, and the contradictory nature of remembered immediacy. It is composed of dialogical encounters of memory pieces that reveal incidents related to World War 2 and the postwar generations and their effects on the psyche of people who encountered those events. A faint synopsis is drawn from past events of the American approach and how it shaped the world, for better or for worse.
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226257433
- eISBN:
- 9780226257457
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226257457.003.0002
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter examines the policy context of homeland security in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. It describes some of the features of the Boston ...
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This chapter examines the policy context of homeland security in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. It describes some of the features of the Boston area that created a special context for homeland security operations, particularly the inconsistent patterns of regionalization and the impact of the Big Dig highway construction project. The chapter also provides an overview of the federal policies that influenced local action from civil defense to the present.Less
This chapter examines the policy context of homeland security in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 terrorist attacks in the United States. It describes some of the features of the Boston area that created a special context for homeland security operations, particularly the inconsistent patterns of regionalization and the impact of the Big Dig highway construction project. The chapter also provides an overview of the federal policies that influenced local action from civil defense to the present.
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226257433
- eISBN:
- 9780226257457
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226257457.003.0009
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter sums up the key findings about this study on homeland security work and comments on the implications of homeland security practice. It highlights the concrete policy opportunities ...
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This chapter sums up the key findings about this study on homeland security work and comments on the implications of homeland security practice. It highlights the concrete policy opportunities available to anthropologists who chose to engage with this aspect of national security and describes some of the “ugly secrets” of subfederal homeland security. The chapter also discusses the need for disciplinary discussions on the realities of contemporary fieldwork and the importance of practice research for understanding complex, powerful institutions.Less
This chapter sums up the key findings about this study on homeland security work and comments on the implications of homeland security practice. It highlights the concrete policy opportunities available to anthropologists who chose to engage with this aspect of national security and describes some of the “ugly secrets” of subfederal homeland security. The chapter also discusses the need for disciplinary discussions on the realities of contemporary fieldwork and the importance of practice research for understanding complex, powerful institutions.
Ariane Chebel d’Appollonia
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- August 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780801450686
- eISBN:
- 9780801463914
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Cornell University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7591/cornell/9780801450686.003.0004
- Subject:
- Political Science, Security Studies
This chapter examines the “security packages” adopted by the U.S. and European governments in the aftermath of 9/11. The terrorism–immigration nexus was solidly consolidated by the events of 9/11 in ...
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This chapter examines the “security packages” adopted by the U.S. and European governments in the aftermath of 9/11. The terrorism–immigration nexus was solidly consolidated by the events of 9/11 in two ways. First, the belief that foreigners were more liable than citizens to commit terrorist attacks was used to justify a zero-tolerance approach to immigration offenses, tougher controls on borders, and even extraterritorial controls beyond borders. Second, the notion of the “war on terror” implied that the scope of U.S. counterterrorism policy should be expanded in order to respond to the global nature of the threat. This chapter first discusses U.S. and European security-driven immigration policies before considering how Europe and the United States subscribed to the “emergency times” doctrine and thus adopted “exceptional” measures designed to enhance homeland security. It argues that security concerns allowed the U.S. and European governments to circumvent both constitutional rules and international conventions.Less
This chapter examines the “security packages” adopted by the U.S. and European governments in the aftermath of 9/11. The terrorism–immigration nexus was solidly consolidated by the events of 9/11 in two ways. First, the belief that foreigners were more liable than citizens to commit terrorist attacks was used to justify a zero-tolerance approach to immigration offenses, tougher controls on borders, and even extraterritorial controls beyond borders. Second, the notion of the “war on terror” implied that the scope of U.S. counterterrorism policy should be expanded in order to respond to the global nature of the threat. This chapter first discusses U.S. and European security-driven immigration policies before considering how Europe and the United States subscribed to the “emergency times” doctrine and thus adopted “exceptional” measures designed to enhance homeland security. It argues that security concerns allowed the U.S. and European governments to circumvent both constitutional rules and international conventions.
Shawn Malley
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- May 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781786941190
- eISBN:
- 9781789629088
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781786941190.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
Well-known in popular culture for tomb-raiding and mummy-wrangling, the archaeologist is also a rich though often unacknowledged figure for constructing ‘strange new worlds’ from ‘strange old worlds’ ...
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Well-known in popular culture for tomb-raiding and mummy-wrangling, the archaeologist is also a rich though often unacknowledged figure for constructing ‘strange new worlds’ from ‘strange old worlds’ in science fiction. But more than a well-spring for scenarios, SF’s archaeological imaginary is also a hermeneutic tool for excavating the ideological motivations of digging up the past buried in the future. A cultural study of an array of popular though critically neglected North American SF film and television texts–spanning the gamut of telefilms, pseudo-documentaries, teen serial drama and Hollywood blockbusters–Excavating the Future treats archaeology as a trope for exploring the popular archaeological imagination and the uses to which it is being put by the U.S. state and its adversaries. By treating SF texts as documents of archaeological experience circulating within and between scientific and popular culture communities and media, Excavating the Future develops critical strategies for analyzing SF film and television’s critical and adaptive responses to contemporary geopolitical concerns about the war on terror, homeland security, the invasion and reconstruction of Iraq, and the ongoing fight against ISIS.Less
Well-known in popular culture for tomb-raiding and mummy-wrangling, the archaeologist is also a rich though often unacknowledged figure for constructing ‘strange new worlds’ from ‘strange old worlds’ in science fiction. But more than a well-spring for scenarios, SF’s archaeological imaginary is also a hermeneutic tool for excavating the ideological motivations of digging up the past buried in the future. A cultural study of an array of popular though critically neglected North American SF film and television texts–spanning the gamut of telefilms, pseudo-documentaries, teen serial drama and Hollywood blockbusters–Excavating the Future treats archaeology as a trope for exploring the popular archaeological imagination and the uses to which it is being put by the U.S. state and its adversaries. By treating SF texts as documents of archaeological experience circulating within and between scientific and popular culture communities and media, Excavating the Future develops critical strategies for analyzing SF film and television’s critical and adaptive responses to contemporary geopolitical concerns about the war on terror, homeland security, the invasion and reconstruction of Iraq, and the ongoing fight against ISIS.
Eli Jelly-Schapiro
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- January 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780520295377
- eISBN:
- 9780520968158
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520295377.003.0001
- Subject:
- History, Imperialism and Colonialism
Though ubiquitous in contemporary political discourse, the trope of “security” is under-historicized. Countering ahistorical accounts of “post-9/11” political-economic order, this chapter situates ...
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Though ubiquitous in contemporary political discourse, the trope of “security” is under-historicized. Countering ahistorical accounts of “post-9/11” political-economic order, this chapter situates the contemporary manifestation and twentieth-century evolution of security rhetoric and practice within the long history of colonial modernity at large. It proceeds through an examination of three elemental relations: security and property, security and race, and security and emergency. The security state emerges to guarantee the process and outcome of capitalist accumulation, in the colony as in the metropole. The securing of private property is enabled by and in turn reinforces race thinking and practice. And the enactment of emergency or exception legitimates the preemptive and punitive violence of the security state.Less
Though ubiquitous in contemporary political discourse, the trope of “security” is under-historicized. Countering ahistorical accounts of “post-9/11” political-economic order, this chapter situates the contemporary manifestation and twentieth-century evolution of security rhetoric and practice within the long history of colonial modernity at large. It proceeds through an examination of three elemental relations: security and property, security and race, and security and emergency. The security state emerges to guarantee the process and outcome of capitalist accumulation, in the colony as in the metropole. The securing of private property is enabled by and in turn reinforces race thinking and practice. And the enactment of emergency or exception legitimates the preemptive and punitive violence of the security state.
- Published in print:
- 2009
- Published Online:
- March 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780226257433
- eISBN:
- 9780226257457
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Chicago Press
- DOI:
- 10.7208/chicago/9780226257457.003.0005
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
This chapter, which discusses the issues covered by homeland security work in the United States, suggests that there are two rough categories of homeland security work: daily task oriented work and ...
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This chapter, which discusses the issues covered by homeland security work in the United States, suggests that there are two rough categories of homeland security work: daily task oriented work and context building. It provides examples of some of the questions facing practitioners, and introduces two important themes of coordination and information sharing/secrecy. The chapter also contends that understanding local homeland security is a fundamentally interpretive task.Less
This chapter, which discusses the issues covered by homeland security work in the United States, suggests that there are two rough categories of homeland security work: daily task oriented work and context building. It provides examples of some of the questions facing practitioners, and introduces two important themes of coordination and information sharing/secrecy. The chapter also contends that understanding local homeland security is a fundamentally interpretive task.
Michael Barkun
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- July 2014
- ISBN:
- 9780807834701
- eISBN:
- 9781469603230
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/9780807877692_barkun.11
- Subject:
- Political Science, American Politics
This chapter argues that the appearance of nonrational considerations in terrorism and homeland security policy is not as surprising as it might at first seem when one considers the prominence of ...
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This chapter argues that the appearance of nonrational considerations in terrorism and homeland security policy is not as surprising as it might at first seem when one considers the prominence of unseen dangers, which invite deviations from purely rational analysis. It generates a vocabulary of concepts essential to an understanding of collective reactions to unseen dangers. These will be derived from two models constructed with other kinds of behavior in mind, albeit behavior that bears some similarities to the responses that terrorism elicits. They are particularly useful because the behavior they examine has distinctly nonrational elements. The concepts drawn from these two models will be considered and, with some rearrangement, used to suggest how they might explain the unseen dangers problem.Less
This chapter argues that the appearance of nonrational considerations in terrorism and homeland security policy is not as surprising as it might at first seem when one considers the prominence of unseen dangers, which invite deviations from purely rational analysis. It generates a vocabulary of concepts essential to an understanding of collective reactions to unseen dangers. These will be derived from two models constructed with other kinds of behavior in mind, albeit behavior that bears some similarities to the responses that terrorism elicits. They are particularly useful because the behavior they examine has distinctly nonrational elements. The concepts drawn from these two models will be considered and, with some rearrangement, used to suggest how they might explain the unseen dangers problem.
