Cape Town launch of “The Rise of the Securocrats: The Case of South Africa”.
R2K Western Cape invites you to the Cape Town launch of “The Rise of the Securocrats: The Case of South Africa” on Thursday 27 November, 6pm, at Clarke’s Bookstore, 199 Long Street, Cape Town.
The Rise of the Securocrats illustrates how, when securocrats dominate government decision-making, the democratic life of a country can be threatened. Annexing the power to subvert democratic processes to entrench their own power or the power of their favoured leaders, they also use the armed might of the state to suppress their political opponents. Duncan argues for the importance of keeping the security cluster under democratic, civilian control, and broadly accountable to the society they claim to serve.This book throws a spotlight on the hidden corners, murky bureaucracies and power grab that is currently underway. It evaluates just how worried we should be about developments in the security cluster and evaluates the state of journalism on its activities. It adopts a ground-up approach, looking at the impact of the security cluster on the state of activism and protest action. It is also international in focus, looking at how ‘big brother’ practices developed during the ‘war against terror’ have been domesticated in South Africa and the uses to which they are being put.
—
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jane Duncan is a professor in the Department of Journalism, Film and Television, University of Johan- nesburg. Before that she held a chair in Media and the Information Society at Rhodes University, and was the executive director of the Freedom of Expression Institute. She was an elected member of the Right2Know Campaign’s national working group in 2012/13.This title is published by Jacana Media.
The Rise of the Securocrats illustrates how, when securocrats dominate government decision-making, the democratic life of a country can be threatened. Annexing the power to subvert democratic processes to entrench their own power or the power of their favoured leaders, they also use the armed might of the state to suppress their political opponents. Duncan argues for the importance of keeping the security cluster under democratic, civilian control, and broadly accountable to the society they claim to serve.This book throws a spotlight on the hidden corners, murky bureaucracies and power grab that is currently underway. It evaluates just how worried we should be about developments in the security cluster and evaluates the state of journalism on its activities. It adopts a ground-up approach, looking at the impact of the security cluster on the state of activism and protest action. It is also international in focus, looking at how ‘big brother’ practices developed during the ‘war against terror’ have been domesticated in South Africa and the uses to which they are being put.
—
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Jane Duncan is a professor in the Department of Journalism, Film and Television, University of Johan- nesburg. Before that she held a chair in Media and the Information Society at Rhodes University, and was the executive director of the Freedom of Expression Institute. She was an elected member of the Right2Know Campaign’s national working group in 2012/13.This title is published by Jacana Media.
