Editors:
Presents a global view of the issue of privatized security, delving into diverse and illustrative cases from different geographic and political contexts
Overviews the historical shift toward privatized security and private involvement in militarized conflict, including war
A rare sociological examination of violence, security contractors, and our assumptions about privatized security in the global sphere
Buy it now
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Other ways to access
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check for access.
Table of contents (11 chapters)
-
Front Matter
-
Examining the Trend
-
Front Matter
-
-
Privatization and the State’s Monopoly on Violence
-
Front Matter
-
-
Conclusion
-
Front Matter
-
-
Back Matter
About this book
The first book dedicated to the sociology of privatized security, this collection studies the important global trend of shifting security from public to private hands and the associated rise of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) and their contractors. The volume first explores the trend itself, making important historical and theoretical revisions to the existing social science of private security. These chapters discuss why rulers buy, rent and create private militaries, why mercenaries have become private patriots, and why the legitimacy of military missions is undermined by the use of contractors. The next section challenges the idea that states have a monopoly on legitimate violence and questions our legal and economic assumptions about private security. The collection concludes with a discussion of the contractors themselves, focusing on gender, race, ethnicity, and other demographic factors. Featuring a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods and a range of theoretical and methodological innovations, this book will inspire sociologists to examine, with fresh eyes, the behind-the-scenes tension between the high drama of war and conflict and the mundane realities of privatized security contractors and their everyday lives.
Keywords
- Security contractors
- Private security
- Military contracts
- Private security companies
- Private military
- Gender and security
- Gender and the military
- military regulation
- security regulation
- Privatization
- State monopology
- Nationalism
- Legitimacy
- state violence
- military technology
- military organization
- Private Military and Security Companies
- privatization of state violence
Reviews
“Who are contemporary corporate warriors? What do they do? What motivates them? How do they compare to their historical predecessors? What are the implications for global security? Are there implications for inequities within and across boarders? From the gates of exclusive African neighborhoods to the hills of Afghanistan, private military security contractors are redefining the face of global security. The time has come for a sociology of privatized security. In The Sociology of Privatized Security, Ori Swed and Thomas Crosbie masterfully make the case.” (Patricia M. Shields, Texas State University, USA)
Editors and Affiliations
-
Department of Sociology, Anthropology, & Social Work, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA
Ori Swed
-
Royal Danish Defence College, Copenhagen, Denmark
Thomas Crosbie
About the editors
Ori Swed is Assistant Professor of Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work at Texas Tech University, USA, where he is also Director of the Peace, War, & Social Conflict Lab. His research focuses on the role of non-state actors in conflict and security.
Thomas Crosbie is Assistant Professor of Military Operations at the Royal Danish Defence College, Denmark. His research focuses the linked themes of military politics, the professionalization of security, the privatization of security and the operational level of war.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Sociology of Privatized Security
Editors: Ori Swed, Thomas Crosbie
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-98222-9
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Social Sciences, Social Sciences (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2019
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-98221-2Published: 16 October 2018
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-07468-5Published: 26 December 2018
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-98222-9Published: 04 October 2018
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XIX, 281
Number of Illustrations: 1 illustrations in colour
Topics: Sociology, general, Military and Defence Studies, Political Science