Beyond the state: policing precariousness in South Africa and Palestine/Israel

Abstract

This short comment on Loïc Wacquant's ‘Marginality, Ethnicity, and Penality’ begins by highlighting three of Wacquant's most important interventions. It then extends the analysis by drawing on research about urban marginality in South Africa and Palestine/Israel. Whereas Wacquant focuses on the state response to urban marginality, I suggest that it is important to look beyond the state to consider how other actors have responded to the growth of precarious populations. Specifically, I point out that private security companies and residents' associations are at the forefront of efforts to police poor black South Africans, while an imperial network of security forces polices the Palestinian precariat.

Keywords:

• South Africa
• Palestine/Israel
• precariousness
• securitization
• state
• private security
• empire

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Andy Clarno

ANDY CLARNO is Assistant Professor of Sociology and African American Studies at the University of Illinois at Chicago.