This article uses the second inauguration of President George W. Bush in January 2005 as a case study to show that surveillance procedures in state-sponsored public rituals themselves have a ritual form. This security meta-ritual is a practice of separation of insiders from outsiders through which the state security apparatus transforms a potentially dangerous everyday public life into a new social reality. In this newly created space of public interaction under maximum control, a safe space is created within which public ritual can take place without interruption.
Agamben, G. (1998). Homo sacer: Sovereign power and bare life (D. Heller-Roazen, Trans.). Palo Alto, CA: Stanford University Press. (Original work published 1995 )
2.
Agamben, G. (2005). State of exception (K. Attell, Trans.)Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
3.
Adey, P. (2004). Surveillance at the airport: Surveilling mobility/Mobilizing surveillance. Environment and Planning A, 36, 1365-1380.
4.
Bajc, V. (n.d.). Uncertainty and the framing of order in public rituals. Unpublished manuscript.
5.
Bateson, G. (1972). A theory of play and fantasy. In G. Bateson, Steps to an ecology of mind (pp. 177-193). San Francisco: Chandler.
6.
Beck, U. (1992). Risk Society. Towards a new modernityNewbury Park, CA: Sage.
7.
Bigo, D. (2006). Security, exception, ban, and surveillance. In D. Lyon (Ed.), Theorizing surveillance: The panopticon and beyond (pp. 46-68). Cullompton, UK: Willan.
8.
Bogard, W. (1996). The simulation of surveillance. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Boller, P.F., Jr. (2001). Presidential inaugurations. New York: Harcourt.
9.
Bradley, N. (2004, December 15). Bush's inauguration to reflect nation at war. Nine balls, tight security; but what about the weather? MSNBC. Available from http://www.msnbc.msn.com
10.
Buzan, B., Waever, O., & de Wilde J. (Eds). ( 1998). Security: A new framework for analysis. Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner.
11.
Crowd control, not terror, causes tense moments. (2005, January 21). The Washington Post, p. A32.
12.
Curl, J. (2005, January 20) Bush to embrace a bold agenda. Today, he celebrates; tomorrow, he works. The Washington Times, pp. A1, A12.
13.
Dayan, D., & Katz, E. (1992). Media events: The live broadcasting of history . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
14.
Deleuze, G. (1992). Postscript on the societies of control. October, 59, 3-7.
15.
Durkheim, E. (2001). The elementary forms of religious life. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1912)
16.
Dwyer, T. (2005, January 20). Snow and crowd descend on the Capitol. Despite the cold 100,000 expected to attend parade after today's swearing-in . The Washington Post, pp. A1, A8.
17.
Foucault, M. (1995). Discipline and punish: The birth of the prison . New York: Vintage. (Original work published 1975)
18.
Graham, S. (2004). Introduction: Cities, warfare, and states of emergency . In S. Graham (Ed.), Cities, war, and terrorism: Towards urban geopolitics (pp. 1-25). Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
19.
Guide to television coverage of presidential inauguration. ( 2005, January 20). The Washington Post.
20.
Handelman, D. (2004). Opening Holocaust Remembrance Day: The bureaucratic logic and aesthetics of national mourning. In D. Handelman, Nationalism and the Israeli state: Bureaucratic logic in public events (pp. 101-117). Oxford, UK: Berg.
21.
Handelman, D. (1998). Preface to second edition: Theorizing through models and mirrors. In D. Handelman, Models and mirrors: Towards an anthropology of public events (2nd ed., pp. x-lii). Oxford, UK/ New York: Berghahn.
22.
Horwitz, S., & Hsu, S. (2004, November 7). Unrivaled security planned for inauguration. Military muscle, high-tech screening are features of first swearing in since 9/11. The Washington Post, p. A10.
23.
Hsu, S. ( 2005, January 11). U.S. tells D.C. to pay inaugural expenses. Other security projects would lose $11.9 million. The Washington Post, p. A1.
24.
Huysmans, J. (2004). Minding exceptions: Politics of insecurity and liberal democracy. Contemporary Political Theory, 3(3), 321-341.
25.
Laud, peaceful protest interrupts Bush speech. Code Pink activists access VIP section—and get expelled. (2005, January 21). San Francisco Chronicle, p. A10. Available from http://www.sfgate.com
26.
Lowy, J. (2005, January 11). Inauguration performers ordered NOT to look directly at Bush. Retrieved from http://inauguration-of-bush.blogspot.com/2005_01_01_inauguration-of-bush_archive.html ; also http://www.news-herald.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=1698&dept_id=21849&newsid=13721845
27.
Lueck, T. (2006, July 11). U.S. to test security devices at PATH station. The New York Times, p. B3.
28.
Lyon, D. (2006). The search for surveillance theories. In D. Lyon (Ed.), Theorizing surveillance: The panopticon and beyond (pp. 3-20). Cullompton, UK: Willan.
29.
Masco, J. (2002). Lie detectors: On secrets and hypersecurity in Los Alamos. Public Culture, 14, 441-467.
30.
New poll finds mixed support for wiretaps. Majority accepts them to combat terrorists. (2006, January 27). The New York Times, pp. A1, A21.
Public space along parade route at issue. (2005, January 20). The Washington Post, p. A9.
33.
Risen, J., & Lichtblau, E. (2005, December 16). Bush lets U.S. spy on callers without courts. The New York Times, p. A1.
34.
Roche, M. (2000). Mega-events and modernity: Olympics and expos in the growth of global culture. London/ New York: Routledge.
35.
Salter, M. (2005). At the threshold of security: A theory of international borders. In E. Zureik & M. Salter (Eds.), Global surveillance and policing: Borders, security, identity (pp. 36-50). Cullompton, UK: Willan.
36.
Spectators. Seeking a sliver of history, no obstacle too formidable. (2005, January 21). The Washington Post, p. A1, A30.
37.
Turner, V. (1969). The ritual process, structure and anti-structure . Chicago: Aldine.
38.
U.S. Capitol Police. (2005). The 55th presidential inaugural ceremony [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.uscapitolpolice.gov/pressreleases/2005/pr_01-13-05.html
39.
U.S. Department of Homeland Security. (2004 ). Fact Sheet: 2005 Presidential Inauguration-National Special Security Event. (2004, November 8). Fact sheet: 2005 presidential inauguration-National special security event [Press release]. Retrieved from http://www.dhs.gov/xnews/releases/press_release_0553.shtm
40.
Van Gennep, A. (1960). The rites of passage (M. Vizedom & G. Cafee, Trans.). London: Routledge/ Kegan Paul. (Original work published 1909)
41.
Waever, O. (1995). Securitization and desecuritization. In R. Lipschutz (Ed.), On security (pp. 46-86). New York: Columbia University Press.
42.
Washington daybook. (2005, January 20). Washington Times, p. A10.
43.
Wilgoren, D. (2005, January 20). First snowstorm snows the region. The Washington Post, pp. B1, B4.
