Worst-Case Scenario?: Governance, Mediation and the Security Regime by Stuart Price (Author)

ISBN: 9781848135307

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Zed Books, June 15, 2011

Paperback, 224 pages

In this original and provocative new book, Stuart Price identifies the existence of a practice that lies at the core of the western security regime -- the projection of the worst-case scenario. This consists of the projection of a significant material threat, made by an authoritative or executive power, used to bolster the security agenda of the neo-liberal state. This in turn has altered the conduct of military and police operations, which are increasingly directed against any substantial expression of dissent. Using a wide range of official sources and case studies - from 9/11 to the riots in Greece -- Price analyzes the paramilitary, political, economic and cultural maneuvers of the security regime as it attempts to reproduce a "command structure" within civil society. In doing so, he demonstrates that, unlike the openly "totalitarian" states of the past, bureaucratic rule is favored over charismatic leadership, and the ostentatious display of coercive authority is characterized as a temporary measure. It is, he argues, a process that must be recognized and resisted.