This is the audio version of the fourth part of Getting Through Security: Counterterrorism, Bureaucracy and a Sense of the Modern (Routledge 2020) by Mark Maguire and David A. Westbrook.
This Chapter Three, “The Secret College,” is the linchpin of the book. There are a lot of great stories. Conversations with combatants in Nairobi, a brief history of SWAT, tensions between police and close quarter combat teams, and so forth. The adventures are exciting, the stories laden, the atmosphere dark. Noir stuff. But, speaking as a philosopher, the reason that this is the core of the book is that security (and even security theater) is understood as a professional discourse, which creates a sociology, a worldview. Who are these people and how do they think? But more than description is at stake: understanding security in professional terms allows us to see security as a social, political, and not least bureaucratic project, which affects each of us, even in the most “civilized” countries, especially in the most civilized countries. In short, here the violent and uncivilized, terror and counterterror, are linked to our ordinary life, the public, government . . . the things we often forget but are reminded of in airports, or in the news.
This linkage gives us, as the book unfolds, perspective on not only the problems native to security, but also on the nature of bureaucracy, the state, and that weird condition we call “modernity.” Hence linchpin.
Mark and I drafted this book five difficult years ago, drawing on years of effort. After that amount of water has flowed under bridges, I can hear this book as if somebody else wrote it. Without false modesty, I’m quite proud.
Vincent Parlato continues to compose and perform really interesting music for each part, which sets off the rather dark discussion. In some ways, I think the audiobook is better than the text. Be that as it may, I hope you find it meaningful. Vince also did the sound editing, and Mark and I thank him.
Parts 1 - 3 can be accessed (for free) at the links below.
Getting Through Security Part Three
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