Age of Security by Ruben Andersson - ISBN: 9780008716387
Paperback
Our obsession with security traps us, costing freedom for a false sense of safety.
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Age of Security

The Rise of a Global Obsession

$31.19

  • Paperback

    352 pages

  • Release Date

    1 September 2026

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Summary

‘Brilliantly thought-provoking’ MARK GALEOTTI, author of Homo Criminalis

‘Propulsive and urgent … a panoramic exploration of our world’ MARTHA SPURRIER

What would you give up to feel safe?

The security industry has captured our politics and our private lives. From rogue states to Ring doorbells, someone is always keeping a watchful eye – and we’re paying a heavy price. Anthropologist Ruben Andersson shows ho…

Book Details

ISBN-13:9780008716387
ISBN-10:0008716382
Author:Ruben Andersson
Publisher:HarperCollins Publishers
Imprint:William Collins
Format:Paperback
Number of Pages:352
Release Date:1 September 2026
Weight:270g
Dimensions:234mm x 153mm x 21mm
What They're Saying

Critics Review

‘We are safer now than ever, in the main. So why do we feel so insecure? A brilliantly thought-provoking study not just of our shrinking tolerance for risk, but also how cynical politicians and a massive global industry encourage us to trap ourselves in cages of our own making’Mark Galeotti, author of Homo Criminalis‘A courageous and beautifully written book that takes us to the heart of the brave new world of surveillance capitalism. Age of Security forces us to acknowledge the high price of the quest for a ‘risk-free’ world: it confronts the transformation of human values in the digital era, and shows how deeply we are all involved in this crisis’Professor Toby Green, author of A Fistful of ShellsPropulsive and urgent, Age of Security is a panoramic exploration of our world with a vital demand that we change it for the better’Martha Spurrier‘Provides a unique perspective … the strength of the book lies in its focus on everyday life, describing from below this race for security which destroys everyone, including those who have perpetuated it. This is a must-read book that can convince a large audience to join a crucial debate’Professor Didier Bigo‘Manages to combine engaging writing with scholarly rigour to tell a novel story about our age of security. Andersson explores the psychology of our perverse desire for a security that never works, while explaining how it serves as a displacement of politics and the state in a global arena’Professor Faisal Devji

About The Author

Ruben Andersson

Ruben Andersson is Professor of Social Anthropology at the University of Oxford and the holder of a Leverhulme Major Research Fellowship on global security. His previous books include Illegality, Inc., winner of a BBC award, No Go World, and (with David Keen) Wreckonomics. He has written for the Guardian, the New York Times, Foreign Policy, Financial Times, and El País.

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