Policing reconceptualised : the impact of globalisation and postmodernisation on the public police of England and Wales and the United States of America

The problematic of any analysis of public policing is that it is primarily based on the premise that policing is a state centred activity. As public policing has always been associated with the political institutions of the state, and with the advent of modernity, it has reinforced the notion that policing is power exercised through control by the (Weberian) resort to the legitimate use of force. However, developments in the theories of Globalisation and postmodernisation suggest that policing cannot continue to be analysed, explained, theorised, or compared merely on this basis. This thesis examines the current contributions by Reiner (1992 & 2000), Johnston (2000), and Wright (2002) that assess the impact of either Globalisation or postmodernisation, or both. It also examines policy discourses, and discursive practices, that indicate the tensions within the public police and policing of England & Wales and the US that may be said to be associated with the processes of Globalisation and postmodernisation. The postmodern notions of power/knowledge, and the role of agency, are utilised, as well as the multidisciplinary approach of the new Political Sociology. A comparative historical approach to the concept of public policing is undertaken and case studies, including the attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York on 11th September 2001, are utilised in order to contextualise the conceptual developments as they unfold. In essence, this thesis argues for a greater appreciation of, and emphasis on, the processes of Globalisation and postmodernisation when policing is analysed. It concludes that policing should be reconceptualised as power through control of information and knowledge, rather than through the legitimate use of force. In consequence, there would be a move towards a more strategic appreciation of policing as a major factor in the political economy of the state at the local, national and global level.