The Pluralization of High Policing: Convergence and Divergence at the Public-Private Interface

O'Reilly, C.

Abstract

High policing has long been associated with the preservation and augmentation of state interests by the intelligence community. However, this paradigm can neither be examined, nor theorized, within an exclusively ‘public’ framework; a host of ‘private’ actors must now be acknowledged on this conceptual terrain. Moving beyond well-acknowledged patterns of outsourcing intelligence, this paper brings sharper research attention to transnational security consultancies as well as the more shadowy realms of boutique intelligence firms, private detectives and freelance covert operatives. By examining these new private categories of high policing, this paper considers the complex patterns of convergence and divergence that characterize the public–private interface. Specific attention is devoted to resources of symbolic power and how these impact the capacity for coercive action.

Citation

O'Reilly, C. (2015). The Pluralization of High Policing: Convergence and Divergence at the Public-Private Interface. The British Journal of Criminology: An International Review of Crime and Society, 55(4), 688-710. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azu114

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Online Publication Date: Jan 27, 2015
• Publication Date: Jul 1, 2015
• Deposit Date: Dec 11, 2014
• Publicly Available Date: Jan 27, 2017
• Journal: British Journal of Criminology
• Print ISSN: 0007-0955
• Electronic ISSN: 1464-3529
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 55
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 688-710
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azu114
• Keywords: High policing, Private security, Pluralization, Symbolic power.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1415731