(Re)Politicizing Security? The Legitimation and Contestation of Mass Surveillance after Snowden

Abstract

Abstract Ever since the revelations by Edward Snowden, there has been a political debate about the appropriateness of mass surveillance by intelligence agencies. At the same time, surveillance practices based on complex technologies, which are almost invisible in everyday life and interlinked across national borders, have run into scarcely any widespread social protest. That is why this article poses the question: are the powers of depoliticized governance – which can rely on sustained diffuse acceptance based on an ever-widening discourse about dangers and technocratic risk management – making themselves evident here? Or is the post-Snowden debate showing signs of shifting toward (re)politicization of security policy, which is making appropriate measures and actors the subjects of public discourse and politically responsible decision making? By asking these questions, this article questions the widespread thesis of an across-the-board depoliticization of security governance, develops a conceptual framework for a differentiated analysis of politicization processes, with a special focus on the security field, and applies this framework to the specific case of the debate in Germany about the disclosures by Edward Snowden. By following this approach, the article strives to contribute to improved understanding of the dynamics, conditions and limitations of politicization in the purportedly special area of security.