Anti-Terrorism, Citizenship and Security by Lee Jarvis & Michael Lister

Author:Lee Jarvis & Michael Lister [Jarvis, Lee & Lister, Michael]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Political Science, Terrorism, General, Human Rights
ISBN: 9780719091599
Google: nOC-yAEACAAJ
Publisher: Manchester University Press
Published: 2015-01-15T06:24:50+00:00

4

The impacts of anti-terrorism on citizenship

This chapter follows the previous discussion of public evaluations of anti-terrorism powers by examining the impact thereof on citizens and citizenship more specifically. Two main findings from our research are discussed. First, that anti-terrorism powers have impacted – variably – on four key aspects of citizenship: rights, participation, identity and duties. As demonstrated below, for some – generally (but not exclusively) white individuals – this impact is limited. Others – primarily, but not exclusively, ethnic minority participants – noted a significant attenuation of citizenship in these areas. The second key finding is that, whilst an overall pattern emerges in our research of citizenship erosion amongst individuals identifying as ethnic minority in particular, this was far from a totalising or universal experience. Thus, whilst many of our participants discussed developments in anti-terrorism powers as a direct challenge to their citizenship – understood as both status and lived experience (see Chapter 2) – others responded by engaging in, or advocating, different forms of resistance. Three such engagements are explored in the latter section of this chapter: explicit expressions of opposition to anti-terrorism measures; denials of ‘victim’ or ‘outsider’ subject positions within the narrativisation of anti-terrorism measures and their consequences; and refusals to withdraw or abstain from established forms of political activity.

By exploring conversations around issues of rights, participation, identity and duties, the analysis in this chapter attempts an exploration of the anti-terrorism/citizenship nexus that extends beyond the dominant focus within existing literature on the erosion of liberties. Abstract, formal, citizen rights, we demonstrate, are undoubtedly important but do not exhaust the ways in which citizenship is lived and experienced. Indeed, for many of our participants at least, the impact of anti-terrorism powers on their ability to participate in the public sphere emerged as a more pressing challenge to the practice of citizenship. In making this argument, the discussion below also aims to add breadth to literature on the impact of anti-terrorism powers by exploring claims about ethnic as well as religious identity in this context. As argued in Chapter 2, too much debate in this area has focused primarily on religious identities and demographics.

The chapter also seeks to demonstrate that – although not framed in any explicit language of citizenship – the forms of resistance to anti-terrorism powers we explore are intensely related to the claims and conceptual terrain of citizenship (see, e.g., Delanty 2000, Lister and Pia 2008). Most obviously, each is both underscored and bulwarked by appeals to equality of treatment and the importance of political participation. This, we suggest, provides grounds for optimism that is often lacking in analyses of civil liberty reductions. Building on this continuing resonance of citizenship, we show that for those people advocating continued political engagement despite (or because of) anti-terrorism powers, mainstream political practices frequently offer the most effective means of resisting the negative consequences thereof. As demonstrated below, we encountered very few examples of novel or anomalous forms of political resistance in this context. However, whilst we believe

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.