Exploring the Construction of Security in the Canada-United States Action Plan on Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness Consultations

摘要

This thesis contributes to the criminological (especially the policing and security) and governmentality literature by examining constructions of security found in the Action Plan on Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness consultation process. In analyzing responses via a discourse analysis, this thesis identifies how security was constructed in the Action Plan vis-a-vis the various interest groups involved in the Action Plan consultation process. The research concludes that the discourses presented in the Action Plan systematically differ in patterned ways from discourses identified in the consultation process. The discourses found in the Action Plan contribute to an overwhelmingly neo-liberal and economic construction of security. These findings contribute to governmentality literature by identifying a need to examine beneath official texts in identifying discourses. As well, these findings provide an impetus for future research to move beyond pre-conceived constructions of security to instead examine security in case-specific contexts.