oa De historisering van veiligheid - Introductie

Security is not just the outcome of physical or political circumstances and incidents. People and organisations have to attribute meaning to those circumstances and incidents. They have to be incorporated into political, administrative, and bureaucratic decision-making processes and procedures. The history of security is not usually described in these terms. This paper provides a brief historiographical account of current histories of security. Next it shows briefly how such history can profit from recent theories and concepts in political science. In doing so, an attempt is made to historicize security and provide some new perspectives, focussing on the ideas of the ‘security dispositive’, ‘timescapes’, and political legitimacy.