Power and Knowledge: On the Role of Liberal Governments within the Security Dispositive

Abstract

This thesis will discuss the question: to what extent do De Graaf and Foucault’s reflections on the security dispositive force us to argue that liberal governments should provide more information to their citizens? The term “security dispositive” was coined by historian and terrorism expert Beatrice de Graaf to reference the concepts, available knowledge and emotions that come into play when something is deemed to be a threat to (national) security. The term “dispositive” itself comes from French philosopher Michel Foucault, who used it in a broader sense to mean a network of institutional and administrative mechanisms that maintain the way power is exercised within society. These mechanisms, both physical and metaphysical, rely heavily on knowledge.