The incorporation of private security actors to protect Dutch merchant vessels: A Bourdieuian reflection

Koko Christiaanse, Yarin Eski

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceedingChapterAcademic

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Abstract

The increasing privatization of security raises salient questions about the configuration of private and public relationships in its provision, especially regarding the Weberian notion of the state’s monopoly of violence. The security privatization trend has not limited itself to land: the boom of Somali piracy between 2006 and 2012 brought rise to a blossoming industry of private security providers. In 2021, the Dutch government legalized the use of private maritime security companies (PMSCs) on board of Dutch merchant vessels in the Merchant Vessel Protection Act (MVPA). This chapter utilizes Bourdieu’s notions of field and economic, cultural, and symbolic capital as a framework to study the construction of public-private relationships in light of the MVPA. The aims of this chapter are twofold. Firstly, this chapter uncovers the utility of a Bourdieuan perspective in the analysis of public-private relationships in security fields. Secondly, it applies this analytical framework to argue that the unique legal and spatial configuration of maritime territory forces changes in the way the Dutch state and private security actors assemble along the lines of economic, cultural, and symbolic capital.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationMaritime Crime and Policing
EditorsYarin Eski, Martin Wright
Place of PublicationLondon
PublisherRoutledge Taylor & Francis Group
Chapter9
Pages160-181
Number of pages22
ISBN (Electronic)9781003182382
ISBN (Print)9781032022116
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

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