An Exploration of Security Privatisation Dynamics Through the Lens of Social Harm

This chapter explores the phenomenon of the privatisation and commercialisation of security through the lens of social harm. Despite the general assumption that the Weberian State continues to have full monopoly over the provision of security and the projection of force, private companies have become ever more present and made themselves indispensable in areas as different as border control, asylum and migration management, the criminal justice system, policing, surveillance, counter-terrorism, counter-organised crime, and defence. By focusing on the case study of the UK border management privatisation, the chapter argues that the security privatisation dynamics have been supported by a mainstream neoliberal discourse linking efficiency and security/safety, which ignores the societal harms caused by the process itself. A social harm approach contributes towards rendering these consequences visible, facilitating the emergence of counter-discourses.