Abstract
This book takes as its foundation the idea that civil life on both the international and domestic levels has become deleteriously militarised, in that since 9/11 the rhetoric of war has made permanent a ‘state of exception’ that strangles liberties and poisons society. Since, for many of the authors, war can never be truly civilised, the apparent interminability of the war on terror and its concomitant effects on both sides of the Atlantic have made of ‘the West’ an oxymoron, namely a ‘barbaric civilisation’ defined primarily by opposition to its enemies (communists, terrorists, migrants, etc.).
Divided into three sections (on ‘the constituent role of armed conflicts’, ‘securization’ [sic] and ‘the reshaping of global society’), the book explores the interconnection between securitisation and social control, and deals with topics such as the revolution in military affairs, international and domestic policing, state surveillance, immigration and internment.
It is telling that a quote from Foucault begins the introduction; the book's stance is uncompromisingly critical. The United States and its Republican party are the primary targets of the editors’ somewhat discombobulating critique (although Italy too receives the rod) and their hyperbolic line, which is toed further by Alain Joxe, makes distinguishing the scholarly from the polemical argument in their articles cumbersomely necessary. A lack of conceptual clarity detracts from the thrust of Roberto Ciccarelli's essay, and many other contributors make sweeping claims with little or no supporting evidence (according to Marcello Maneri, for example, the wars on drugs, terrorism and so on have exempted military and police personnel ‘from any accountability’ [p. 169, emphasis added]). The articles by Didier Bigo on 9/11 narratives and the ‘habitus’, Eric Heilmann on CCTV, and Mariella Pandolfi and Laurence McFalls on the irresponsibility of global civil servants escape these criticisms, however, and are argued persuasively and with composure. Luca Guzzetti's article on the US military–industrial complex and global conflict is also well worth reading.
This volume deserves merit as an international and interdisciplinary achievement and its contributors bring a wide range of political, sociological and anthropological perspectives to bear on war and its effects on civil society. However, while this diverse theoretical background makes for an interesting and topical array of articles, it does not fully compensate the reader for the lack of balance and evidence-based argument that characterises too many of the book's contributions. Despite much promise, more could have been made of this volume.