Homeland Security as an American Ideology: Implications for U.S. Policy and Action

Beresford Annette D
Additional contact information
Beresford Annette D: National White Collar Crime Center

Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management, 2004, vol. 1, issue 3, 24

Abstract: "Homeland security" was a familiar term on Capital Hill before September 2001. Congressional documents show that the U.S. was referred to as "the homeland" as early as 1995, and the term "homeland security" was used extensively by 1998. After September 2001, however, the idea of homeland security (HLS) became a part of American thinking and behavior, and, arguably, an American ideology. Some of the implications of a HLS ideology are explored in this paper, using as a model Slavoj Zizek's "reconstruction of ideology." The analysis suggests that assertions associated with "homeland" and "security" have served as a basis for U.S. policy and action in a way that has obstructed the American imagination and excluded social and political alternatives that more closely reflect American aspirations. By redefining ideology as reflexive ideology, however, it may be possible to overcome these limitations and redefine the ways in which a belief system is developed and used.

Keywords: policy; ideology; terrorism; homeland security (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2004
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://doi.org/10.2202/1547-7355.1042 (text/html)
For access to full text, subscription to the journal or payment for the individual article is required.

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bpj:johsem:v:1:y:2004:i:3:p:24:n:5

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.degruyter.com/journal/key/jhsem/html

DOI: 10.2202/1547-7355.1042

Access Statistics for this article

Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management is currently edited by Irmak Renda-Tanali

More articles in Journal of Homeland Security and Emergency Management from De Gruyter
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Peter Golla ().