Spectacular Security: Mega-Events and the Security Complex

Abstract

In Discipline and Punish Foucault famously declares that “our society is one not of spectacle, but of surveillance.” Our theoretical aim in this paper is to problematize Foucault’s strict demarcation between spectacle and surveillance through an analysis of urban mega‐events. In the process, we detail emerging features of contemporary mega‐events that shape and are shaped by shifts in the field of security and surveillance more broadly. Three dynamics in particular warrant consideration: the move toward a precautionary logic among security planners, a “semiotic shift” wherein security iconography is integrally bound up with the production of contemporary urban spectacles, and various forms of security and surveillance legacies that circulate beyond the spatial and temporal frame of the event itself. While mega‐events support Foucault’s assertion of the dispersal of discipline across the social field, they also suggest that this dispersal occurs in concert with, not in spite of, the power of the spectacle in contemporary society.

Socialist Studies, Volume 9, Number 2 (Full Issue)

“…This example of a policing display aestheticised and calibrated to have the maximum amount of media and visual impact is indicative of a general trend evident in the extensive, militarised security operations at major sporting events and political summits throughout the world: 'security' becoming part of the spectacle itself (Boyle and Haggerty 2009). In the case of the temporary states of siege which accompany major political meetings the agents of participating governments aim at communicating "spectacular security (for authorities, police and security agents, corporate elite, political leaders) and spectacular insecurity for protestors (and indeed anyone who just happened to be passing by)" (Rimke 2011, 196).…”

“…For Boyle and Haggerty (2009) the centrality of image to mega-event security evokes Guy Debord's famous Society of the Spectacle (1967). Debord's book maintained that the texture of modern life is subject to the perpetual dissemination and bombardment of images, slogans, false promises and instructions delivered by a confluence of bureaucratic governments, the media and advertisers.…”

Terrorism and Security at the Olympics: Empirical Trends and Evolving Research Agendas

“…58 In this context, there appears to have been a semiotic shift in security and risk governance which links into the cultural dimensions of living with low-probability, high-consequence events after 9/11. 59 As will be shown later in this paper, the Olympics are one site where authorities seek to construct and manage the risk of terrorism through highly dramatized security displays. Rather than mere retrospective predictability, security governance at the Olympics and other major sports events involves prospective risk management aimed at pre-empting and minimizing the probability of terrorism.…”

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“…Hence, through the pervasive power of media coverage, hosting mega sporting events has become one of the most effective ways to enhance positive image for the host city or country (Whitson & Macintosh, 1996). In other words, concentrated and numerous media coverages of mega sporting events provide opportunities to promote a distinctive image for the city or nation to the world (Boyle & Haggerty, 2009;Hiller, 2006). In addition, throughout effective and repeated media exposure of the host city or country, mega sporting events may be recognized as a strong component of tourism that can draw more visitors which can generate economic benefits and improving host city or country visibility and image (Kavetsos & Szymanski, 2010;Lee, Shin, & Park, 2009;Ntloko & Swart, 2008).…”