Table Of ContentTHE INSECURITY STATE
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The Insecurity State
Vulnerable Autonomy and the Right to Security in the
Criminal Law
PETER RAMSAY
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To the memory of my father
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General Editor s Introduction
Inthismonographtheauthor,PeterRamsay,seekstoexcavateandtore-construct
the political and legal foundations of one set of measures that have formed a
prominent part of what he terms ‘the insecurity state’. The focus is on civil
preventive orders and, in particular on the anti-social behaviour order. Ramsay
demonstrates that this is best conceived not just as part of the criminal justice
systembutratherasanexampleofawideranddeepertrendingovernmentpolicy.
Thus the book contains a detailedpolitical and legal history of the ASBO,but all
thetimetheprincipalconcernistoexaminehowthejustificationsforthismeasure
wereconstructed.Ramsaylocatesthemintherighttosecurity,andheshowshow
prevailing political theories—such as communitarianism, neoliberalism and the
ThirdWay—haveinfluencedthesedevelopmentsandhowatheoryof‘vulnerable
autonomy’has playeda significant part.This enables the authorto argue thatthe
ASBO,asthearchetypalcivilpreventiveorder,hasreallybeenconcernedwiththe
subject’sfailuretoreassureothers;and,heargues,thisfailuretoreassurecontinues
toactuatetheproposedreplacementoftheASBO,aswellasothercivilpreventive
orders.Thismonographthereforeconstitutesanessayinpoliticalsociology,using
onewell-known(but,accordingtoRamsay,imperfectlyunderstood)development
in England and Wales as a case study, and yet rolling out its argument to many
recent developments of the criminal law in other jurisdictions. In its detailed and
sophisticatedargumentaboutthefoundationsandmanifestationsofthe‘insecurity
state’, this monograph is set to change and to enrich current debates about
criminalization.
AndrewAshworth
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Acknowledgements
This book began life as a doctoral dissertation generously supported by an award
from the Arts and Humanities Research Council. I am grateful to the unfailingly
helpfullibrariansoftheBodleianLawLibrarywheremostofitwaswritten.
I am indebted to several people whose encouragement has been invaluable in
writing the book, and whose influence has framed its arguments. I was very
fortunate that Alan Norrie agreed to supervise the thesis. He has tried hard to
keepmeonthestraightandnarrowpathofcritique.Icanonlyhopehesucceeded.
NicolaLaceyhasbeenimmenselygenerouswithhertime,conversation andgood
advice. This book owed her a great deal even before she read and commented on
the manuscript. Andrew Ashworth and Lindsay Farmer were constructive exam-
iners of the thesis and have continued to be supportive of the project since then.
IamparticularlyindebttoLacey,Norrie,andFarmerfordoingsomuchbytheir
own work to create the interdisciplinary space in which the political sociology of
criminal lawthat I amtrying todo here has some roomtobreathe. Lucia Zedner
and Markus Dubber have greatly encouraged me and provoked much of the
thinkinginthisbook.
Ben Bowling gave me some good steers early on. Chris Bickerton, Philip
Cunliffe, and Alex Gourevitch talked about sovereignty in international relations
inawaythatmademelookmorecarefullyatithereathome.StuartMacdonaldhas
been an agile sparring partner on the ASBO. Jean-Francois Drolet, Audrey Gale,
Lee Jones, Insa Koch, and Lynn Revell all made useful observations or provided
goodleads.
TheLSElawdepartmenthasbeenanintellectuallystimulatingandconstructive
environmenttoworkinwhilewritingthebook.Mythankstoallmycolleaguesand
tothestudents,butespeciallytoElyAharonson,ZeliaGallo,DavidKershaw,Nico
Krisch,MartinLoughlin,EmmanuelMelissaris,JoMurkens,JillPeay,TomPoole,
Mike Redmayne, Helen Reece, Robert Reiner, Charlie Webb, Grégoire Webber,
andMikeWilkinson,whohaveallprovidedusefulquestions,commentsortipsat
varioustimes.
Anumberofcolleaguesgavemetheopportunitytotryouttheargumentsinthe
book at conferences and seminars. On that score, my thanks to Markus Dubber,
MichaelTonry,IanLoader,MireilleHildebrandt,LuciaZedner,StuartMacdonald,
Antony Duff, Sandra Marshall, Victor Tadros, Ian Dennis, Bob Sullivan, Jesper
Ryberg,andCarloPanara.
The seeds of the thoughts harvested in this book were sown in the course of
discussions on many subjects with James Heartfield. Suke Wolton read the entire
manuscriptandpressurizedmetoexplainmoreclearlywhenIreallydidnotwant
to.Shealsoputupwiththewritingofthethesis,thebook,andmuchelsebesides.
Shemakesitpossible.
