The security field: Forming and expanding a Bourdieusian criminology. (April 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Bowden, Matt
• Is Part Of: Criminology & criminal justice. Volume 21:Number 2(2021)
• Page Start: 169
• Page End: 186
• Publication Date: 2021-04
• Subjects: field theory -- Pierre Bourdieu -- plural policing -- security field -- security governance; Criminology -- Periodicals; Criminal justice, Administration of -- Periodicals; 364.05
• DOI: 10.1177/1748895819839734
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1748-8958

Abstract

Recent scholarly contributions have sought to integrate Bourdieusian sociology with criminology, centring for example, on the 'street' field as a symbolic and narrative space occupied by players within criminal justice. This article complements this broad objective by focusing on the changes in contemporary police and security governance that are pointing towards an emerging security field. Such a change can be read from the literature on plural policing and crime control, and involves the morphology of policing into nodes or assemblages of security producers. While there has been some attention to the formation of security networks, further empirical work is required to map the field dynamics using a Bourdieusian toolkit. This article explores the concept of the security field, presents some observations from current field research and identifies some remaining questions and challenges for further conceptualization and empirical research.