Imagining Security

This book is concerned with the ways in which the problem of security is thought about and promoted by a range of actors and agencies in the public, private and nongovernmental sectors. From a 'nodal governance' perspective the authors seek to map the mentalities and practices of security found in a variety of sectors, and to understand the ways in which thinking from these sectors influence one another. They examine some conditions that drive innovation and explore ideas for re-imagining security that address contemporary governance deficits that disadvantage 'weak' actors in the security field. The book also discusses possibilities for the 'governance of governance' with an emphasis on hybrid approaches to the regulation of nodal security provision. The book has two key themes: first, governance is no longer simply shaped by thinking within the state sphere, as forms of thinking originating within and across the business sphere as well as civil society groupings and organisations now also shape governance, and influence one another. Secondly, these developments have implications for the future of democratic values as assumptions about the traditional role of government, as both provider and regultor, are increasingly challenged. The first three chapters of the book explore trends in the governance of security, through an analysis of the drivers, conditions and processes of innovation in the context of particular empirical developments. Focussing on 'waves' in public policing at local levels and development in 'human security' at the global level. The fourth chapter outlines an approach that seeks to respond normatively to deficits in security governance. The fifth chapter explores developments and challenges in the area of regulation or the 'governance of governance', stressing the utility of a nodal perspective on conceptual and practical possibilities for the future.