Things Fall Apart, the Centre Cannot Hold’
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 14970854 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Sandra Berns (corresponding author), Sandra S Berns |
| Year | 2009 |
| Volume | 18 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 53-81 |
| Publication date | 2009-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Griffith Law Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1038-3441 • E-ISSN: 1839-4205 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/10383441.2009.10854630 |
| OpenAlex | W3121353129 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 10 |
This article argues that the modes of governmentality characteristic of post-industrial risk societies have the potential to fatally compromise rule of law values. While, post-9/11, the desire to prevent future terrorist attacks is one driver of such policies, populist demands for measures such as the indefinite detention of violent offenders or the introduction into Australia of forms of Megan’s Law are equally potent forces. Against this background, this article explores a variety of phenomena characteristic of risk societies, including the rise of gated communities and other forms of voluntary ghetto. When the management of anxieties becomes the core object of government, the author argues that the primacy of this objective both overrides rule of law values such the presumption of innocence and replaces key liberal values, such as tolerance and respect for the Other, with a greatly expanded panopticon in which we are all commanded to take our place among the watchers (and, simultaneously, the watched)
Compromise · Government (linguistics · Governmentality · Innocence · Law and economics · Panopticon · Plea · Political science · Politics · Presumption · Presumption of innocence · Project commissioning · Publishing · Rule of law · Sociology · Terrorism · Variety (cybernetics · Law · Law in Society and Culture · Philosophy
| Citations per year | 0.08 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1989 - 2009 (21) |
| Highly cited | No |