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Political Concepts
A Working Paper Series of the Committee on Concepts and Methods
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| Jennifer Catallo, "Who Is a Mercenary? Changing Concepts, Waning Taboos," November 2009 |
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| Abstract | | Identified as manifestations of mercenarism, private military and security companies have come to be employed by superpowers, disintegrating states, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and international organisations (IOs). Once forbidden, these “soldiers of fortune” have now been employed at every level, and have outstandingly benefited from such employment. How did we reach this point? It appears that the once-powerful taboo against mercenaries has eroded: there are no more mercenaries. Instead we have a private security industry (PSI), which is composed of private security professionals, private security experts, logistical experts, and private contractors. In this article I examine how and why the anti-mercenary taboo eroded, when it did, the manner in which it did, and consequences of that erosion. I will argue further that actors previously labelled “mercenaries” are now instead identified through a wide range of more acceptable terms – including “private security expert” and “private security professional” – which essentially in fact relate to the same function, that of private security. Contestation over the anti-mercenary taboo by the PSI and its trade associations, states, IOs and NGOs, has functioned to question the taboo’s parameters while simultaneously reinforcing the “mercenaries are bad” norm, and altering the scope of both what, and who, counts as a mercenary. While diverse interpretations are evident, as the PSI expands into security experts, logistical experts, private security professionals, and humanitarians, the scope of who counts as mercenary correspondingly contracts, thus weakening the anti-mercenary taboo. I will explain how an understanding of the demise of the taboo is necessary to explain the shape of the PSI, the implications of the PSI, and the potential for regulation and accountability. In this article I develop a framework for examining a taboo’s demise, and then apply it to the PSI. I further highlight the pertinent policy implications, and provide recommendations that can be drawn from the application of International Relations (IR) theory to the phenomenon of private security. |
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C&M
The Committee on Concepts and Methods
International Political Science Association (IPSA)
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Credits
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