Terrorism: When Risk Meets Security

Abstract

This article draws attention to the changing concepts of risk and security after 9/11 and the consequences that these changes have for political constructions of the state/market relation. By focusing on how the concept of partnership designates a certain understanding of risk and security, the article questions the construction of the role of private companies in US security policy after 9/11, as well as the construction of a politics of security in the private market of insurance. The article argues that, in political texts, the private company is constructed as an agent in the provision of national security; the private company is constituted as a political actor with political responsibilities that exceed respect for the law. Additionally, the article demonstrates the ways insurance businesses strive to uphold a classical understanding of the private insurance market and its responsibility.