Explaining counter terrorism in the UK: normal politics, securitised politics or performativity of the neo-liberal state?

ABSTRACT

This paper seeks to explore the politics of counterterrorism in the UK. It argues that for a number of reasons, counterterrorism policy has been separated off from other policy areas and seen as securitised, exceptional or just different. The paper argues that such a separation from “normal” politics is problematic, both conceptually and empirically. It argues that much can be gained by considering counterterrorism policy through the lenses, concepts and debates which feature in other areas of British politics. The paper then examines two such lenses/debates – depoliticisation and neo-liberalism. An argument is developed that counterterrorism policy is not, in the main, depoliticised, but rather overt, politicised and visible. This prominence, it is argued, is due to the ways in which neo-liberalism has reduced many of the traditional roles of the state. Drawing on the work of Wacquant and Hall, the paper argues that in the absence of such traditional roles, counterterrorism offers the state an opportunity to perform its own “stateness”, to visibly display its sovereign power in a context of ever more (self-imposed) diminished powers.

KEYWORDS:

• Counterterrorism
• depoliticisation
• neo-liberalism
• securitisation

Acknowledgements

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Critical Studies in Terrorism Annual Conference, Newcastle, September 2017. The author is grateful for all comments and feedback received there. The author would also like to thank Lee Jarvis for helpful comments on an earlier version. The usual disclaimers apply.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Michael Lister

Michael Lister is Reader in Politics at Oxford Brookes University. He is co-author of Anti-Terrorism, Citizenship and Security (Manchester University Press, 2015) and Citizenship in Contemporary Europe (Edinburgh University Press, 2008) and co-editor of Critical Perspectives on Counter Terrorism (Routledge, 2015) and The State: Theories and Issues (2005, Palgrave). His research has been published in journals including Political Studies, International Relations, Government and Opposition, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Citizenship Studies, Contemporary Politics and Comparative European Politics.