Global surveillance and policing: borders, security, identity – Introduction

There is no doubt that the mobility of people, data and goods is emerging as a defining feature of life in late modernity. The talk about globalization and the disappearance of space notwithstanding, borders in their geographical, spatial and virtual forms have become increasingly central for understanding the life chances of people. If for Marx the capitalist state exercised monopoly over the means of production, and for Weber the state exercised monopoly over the organized means of violence, for John Torpey (2000) the modern state exercises monopoly over the means of movement. If there was a move towards a borderless world, the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001 have managed to dash any such hopes.