Maguire, Mark and Fussey, Pete (2016) Sensing evil: Counterterrorism, techno-science, and the cultural reproduction of security. Focaal, 75 (5). pp. 31-45. ISSN 0920-1297

Preview

Download (167kB) | Preview

Abstract

New counterterrorism systems are spreading throughout the world. Many are based on behavior detection by skilled offi cers; others deploy techno-scientific theories and soft ware-mediated environments. All of these systems raise critical questions about scientific and legal evidence; profiling, costs, and effectiveness. However, much of the recent scholarship on this topic is based on secondhand information and fails to attend to key transformations in security discourses and in practice. Rather than offering just an overview and theoretical critique, this article draws from our ethnographic data on counterterrorism in the UK (with reference to the broader global securityscape) and examines the phantasmagoria of fears and threats, the experimentations, myriad “expert” theories, and productivity in this realm. In doing so, the article examines how, beyond utilitarian notions of efficiency and security, counterterrorism practices perform multiple cultural roles for those charged with its delivery. We discuss particular examples of counterterrorism deployments and explore the production of theories about the human in security discourses and practices.

Item Type:	Article
Keywords:	abnormal behavior; counterterrorism; (in)securitization; techno-science;
Academic Unit:	Faculty of Social Sciences > Anthropology
Item ID:	8351
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.3167/fcl.2016.750103
Depositing User:	Mark Maguire
Date Deposited:	20 Jun 2017 12:05
Journal or Publication Title:	Focaal
Publisher:	Berghahn Journals
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

Repository Staff Only(login required)

Item control page

Downloads

Origin of downloads