Centre for Security Research

Andrew W. Neal argues that while ‘security’ was once an anti-political ‘exception’ in liberal democracies – a black box of secret intelligence and military decision-making at the dark heart of the state – it has now become normalised in professional political life. This represents a direct challenge to critical security studies debates and their core assumption that security is a kind of illiberal and undemocratic ‘anti-politics’.

Using archival research and interviews with politicians, Neal investigates security politics from the 1980s to the present day to show how its meaning and practice have changed over time. In doing so, he develops an original reassessment of the security/politics relationship.

Find the book at Edinburgh University Press

Speakers

• Andrew Neal, University of Edinburgh
• Rita Floyd, University of Birmingham
• Hager Ben Jaffel, National Centre for Scientific Research, France
• Michael Slaven, University of Lincoln
• Stephen Gethins, University of St. Andrews and former MP for North East Fife
• Benjamin Martill, University of Edinburgh (Chair)