Abstract:
This work aims to apply postcolonial theory, and poststructural methodologies (such as discourse analysis and genealogical investigation) as well as semi-structured interviews to analyse the contemporary security situation in postcolonial Britain – specifically the threat to 'domestic security', and its root causes. It seeks to understand how the colonial past has influenced the strategies and tactics through which the British government responds to this perceived threat, and how such responses have resulted in the breach of civil liberties. The focus of this work will include a critical discourse analysis of government policy, so as to understand the epistemic justification for said measures. Furthermore, it will analyse how such abuses of civil liberties today hark back to past colonial rule, in an attempt to uncover continuities and ruptures in both policy prescriptions and methodologies of control. Semi-structured interviews aim to give both expert and first hand insight into these matter from perspectives that are often unrepresented. Such an approach intends to denaturalise that which has come to be seen as commonplace, to uncover hidden 'truths' so as to decenter power. This work is driven by a responsibility to those who lack the privileged voice that academic freedom offers. As Noam Chomsky stated recently, “the more privilege you have, the more opportunity you have. The more opportunity you have, the more responsibility you have”. Thus even though controversial, it is our responsibility to question that which often goes unquestioned, in order to uncover alternative ‘realities’, and ultimately 'speak truth to power'.