A genealogical reading of security: power,politics and resistance

This article assesses French philosopher Frédéric Gros’ contribution to the analysis of security and suggests ways in which it can help us analyse and critique it. By organising security around distinct, historically defined clusters of meaning, Gros gives us a sense of how deeply embedded security is in the constitution of the self, in totalising theological and political projects and in the foundation and maintenance of the modern political order. Indirectly, Gros’ hypotheses can provide us with the critical resources to respond to and resist the various embodiments of security. Whilst resistance to contemporary modes of risk-management can take the form of aesthetic disruptions and agonistic self-definition, resistance to more traditional forms of security requires the mobilisation of bodies and juridical resources. Building on but also departing from Gros’ genealogy, the article contends that these forms of resistance have to be combined and simultaneous if we are to disrupt security’s multiple power effects.