Criminal dons and extralegal security privatization in downtown Kingston,Jamaica |
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| Authors: | Rivke Jaffe |
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| Institution: | Institute of Cultural Anthropology and Development Sociology, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands |
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| Abstract: | In cities across the world, neoliberal retrenchment, shrinking public expenditure and an emphasis on private‐public partnerships have resulted in the privatization of many services formerly provided by the state. The privatization of security has been one of the most significant shifts in this regard, with citizens becoming responsibilized for safeguarding their own physical integrity and material belongings. This transfer of state responsibility has had an important effect on the spatial organization of cities, as formerly public spaces become both privatized and militarized. Drawing on research in Kingston, Jamaica, this paper describes how new actors from criminal organizations to security companies move to fill these physical and social spaces. Arguing for an increased focus on spatial retreat from below, it highlights the extent to which an extralegal transformation of urban security and services takes place in marginalized areas, parallel to the better studied privatization of security services in affluent areas. |
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| Keywords: | Jamaica crime security urban space privatization responsibilization |
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