Hönke (international relations, U. of Edinburgh, Scotland) examines the security practice of multinational mining companies in sub-Saharan Africa as a window into the broader phenomenon of
hybrid transnational security governance in postcolonial ＂areas of limited statehood＂ (i.e., ＂political spaces in which the ability of governments to implement and enforce rules and to control
the use of violence is restricted along territorial, social and/or sectoral dimensions＂). He positions these practices of hybrid security as part of liberal global governance, arguing that the
proactive social engagement strategies promoted by the discourse of corporate social responsibility have varied outcomes and are limited overall, coexisting as they do with fortress-like
policing methods of in-house security and contracted private security as well as techniques of indirect rule and co-optation used by the management and human resources, community, and security
departments within companies in order to coopt and cooperate with local power holders regardless of their legitimacy. Theoretically, the investigation is guided by an empirical/analytical
concept of governance (inspired by the critical criminology, African studies, and anthropological literature) that highlights the heterogeneous and contradictory practices of external actors
involved in governing security and discourse and practice theories that capture how historically specific ways of talking about, writing about, and doing security shape the perceptions and
practices of security practitioners. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
