(Re)Politicizing Security? The Legitimation and Contestation of Mass Surveillance after Snowden
-
Hendrik Hegemann
und
Martin Kahl
Abstract
Ever since the revelations by Edward Snowden, there has been a political debate about the appropriateness of mass surveillance by intelligence agencies. At the same time, surveillance practices based on complex technologies, which are almost invisible in everyday life and interlinked across national borders, have run into scarcely any widespread social protest. That is why this article poses the question: are the powers of depoliticized governance – which can rely on sustained diffuse acceptance based on an ever-widening discourse about dangers and technocratic risk management – making themselves evident here? Or is the post-Snowden debate showing signs of shifting toward (re)politicization of security policy, which is making appropriate measures and actors the subjects of public discourse and politically responsible decision making? By asking these questions, this article questions the widespread thesis of an across-the-board depoliticization of security governance, develops a conceptual framework for a differentiated analysis of politicization processes, with a special focus on the security field, and applies this framework to the specific case of the debate in Germany about the disclosures by Edward Snowden. By following this approach, the article strives to contribute to improved understanding of the dynamics, conditions and limitations of politicization in the purportedly special area of security.
Article note:
This is the translated version of an original article, which appeared in Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen (Hegemann and Kahl 2016).
Acknowledgments
We wish to thank Thomas Diez, Jonas Hagmann, Delf Rothe, Klaus Schlichte and Ulrich Schneckener as well as the editorial team of zib, the three anonymous experts within zib and those who took part in two panel disucssions at the convention of the German Political Science Association (DVPW) in Duisburg and at the Pan-European Conference of the European International Studies Association (EISA) in Giardini Naxos, Italy in September 2015 for their helpful comments and suggestions. We also thank Matthew Harris for assisting with the translation of this article.
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©2017 Walter de Gruyter GmbH, Berlin/Boston
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Democratisation and New Social Movements
- (Re)Politicizing Security? The Legitimation and Contestation of Mass Surveillance after Snowden
- Institutionalisation of the Relations between the EC and the ASEAN: Analysing an Origin of the EU-Asia Relationship, 1967–1975
- Three Decades of Religious Vote in Europe
- Adversary Voting in the Czech Chamber of Deputies (1993–2013)
- The Norwegian State and Transgender Citizens: A Complicated Relationship
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Articles
- Democratisation and New Social Movements
- (Re)Politicizing Security? The Legitimation and Contestation of Mass Surveillance after Snowden
- Institutionalisation of the Relations between the EC and the ASEAN: Analysing an Origin of the EU-Asia Relationship, 1967–1975
- Three Decades of Religious Vote in Europe
- Adversary Voting in the Czech Chamber of Deputies (1993–2013)
- The Norwegian State and Transgender Citizens: A Complicated Relationship
