Reflections on the refusal to acknowledge private governments

Clifford Shearing*

*Corresponding author for this work

    Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

    78 Citations (Scopus)

    Abstract

    … the writing is on the wall if we refer to historical experience, according to which there is no oppression that is not met with resistance. As for the social and political outcomes of this resistance, uncertainty and experimentation are the only possible assessments, as the process of change muddles through the collective experience of rage, conflict, struggle, hope, failure, and compromise. (Castells 2000: 128) There has been, among many scholars and practitioners, a steadfast refusal to acknowledge the existence of what Macaulay, many years ago, recognized as ‘private governments’ (that is, non-state entities that operate not simply as providers of governance on behalf of state agencies but as auspices of governance in their own right) (Macaulay 1986). These governments, like state governments, authorize and direct activities intended to shape the flow of events (Parker and Braithwaite 2003) so as to promote various governmental outcomes – in distinguishing between auspices and providers of governance I am drawing on Bayley and Shearing (2001). Private governments that engage in steering the flow of events to promote security are, like states, auspices that engage in ‘[purposive strategies] involving the initiation of techniques which are intended to offer guarantees of security’ (Johnston 2000b: 10). Private governments are now ubiquitous. More importantly, what they do has shaped, and continues to shape, the world fundamentally and dramatically.

    Original languageEnglish
    Title of host publicationDemocracy, society and the governance of security
    PublisherCambridge University Press
    Pages11-32
    Number of pages22
    Volume9780521850926
    ISBN (Electronic)9780511489358
    ISBN (Print)0521616425, 9780521850926
    DOIs
    Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2006

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