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Distinctions, distinctions: "public" and "private" force?

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 17:35 authored by Patricia Owens
This article evaluates recent literatures within International Relations on so-called 'private force'. It suggests that the conceptual weaknesses of much of this literature can be accounted for, in part, by a misunderstanding of the historical and sociological importance of the way power is organized and legitimated through shifts in the publicprivate distinction. This distinction is one of the primary mechanisms, if not the primary mechanism, for organizing political, economic and, therefore, military power. For the sake of historical accuracy and conceptual integrity scholars should abandon the terminology of 'public' and 'private' force. Tracing how public-private distinctions shift and change as an effect of political power is a joint task for historical sociology and international political theory.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

International Affairs

ISSN

0020-5850

Publisher

Blackwell Publishing

Issue

5

Volume

84

Page range

977-990

Department affiliated with

  • International Relations Publications

Notes

Reprinted in Alejandro Colás and Bryan Mabee (eds.) Mercenaries, Pirates, Bandits and Empires: Private Violence in Historical Context (New York: Columbia University Press, 2010), pp.25-42

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

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