Policing Noise: The sounds of civility in British discourse c. 1700-1850

This research project investigates the multidimensional nature of security in the modern world. It does so by prioritising study of the historical contexts within which the articulation of different concepts of security can be traced. By doing so, this project seeks to understand the many ways in which security both responds to and generates insecurity.

At the heart of this project is the understanding that all forms of security are relational. Security entails claims about the proper relationships that are said to inhere between citizens, governments, and states. Securing these relations further implies that threats of insecurity emanate from subjects outside those relations – the uncivil, the terrorist, the pirate, the barbarous and the savage.

This project will enable a holistic study of security by incorporating within its frame of reference the interdisciplinary examination of the origins, nature and development of these subjects of insecurity. By working toward complementary and co-ordinated interdisciplinary study, this project will facilitate the investigation of diverse conceptual and historical contexts that have shaped both the limitations and the possibilities of modern notions of security.

Project Leader

Associate Professor Bruce Buchan (Griffith University)

Project Team

Dr David Ellison (Griffith University); Dr Peter Denney (Griffith University)

Project Value

$225,000

Type of Funding

Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project

Dates

2015-2016

Theme/s

Policing and Security

Aims

  • Explore discursive shifts in the articulation of security over time
  • Locate the global and domestic political contexts that underscore the urgency and valence of security
  • Identify those subjects made safe, as well as those made unsafe by ‘security’
  • Uncover the framework of concepts (such as order, certainty, safety, violence, peace, war, and civility) animated by calls for security
  • Recover historical and conceptual insights for critically evaluating contemporary discourse on security