The 'Security Risk' as a Security Risk: Notes on the Classification Practices of the Israeli Security Services

Threat: The Palestinian Prisoners in Israeli Jails, Anat Matar & Abeer Baker, eds., Pluto Press, June 2011

7 Pages Posted: 30 Jul 2013

See all articles by Yael Berda

Yael Berda

Princeton University - Program in Law and Public Affairs; Princeton University - Department of Sociology

Date Written: July 29, 2011

Abstract

In an effort to contribute to expanding research on the sociology of surveillance and security in legal contexts, the author compares the classification and categorization practices of Palestinian residents of the West bank for purposes of regulating movement, to the classification of Palestinian security prisoners in Israeli jails. It demonstrates the way categorization of suspect population is created through the epistemological lens of security, by the secret services and intelligence, but also through definitions of nationalism and criminalization of national allegiances. The author argues that while these classification practices are justified for the purposes of security, these methods of classification, that classify populations as dangerous or suspect populations, create administrative uncertainty and confusion as to who is a security threat.

Keywords: Sociology of security, classification, surveilance, prisoners

Suggested Citation

Berda, Yael, The 'Security Risk' as a Security Risk: Notes on the Classification Practices of the Israeli Security Services (July 29, 2011). Threat: The Palestinian Prisoners in Israeli Jails, Anat Matar & Abeer Baker, eds., Pluto Press, June 2011, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2302642

Yael Berda (Contact Author)

Princeton University - Program in Law and Public Affairs ( email )

Wallace Hall
Princeton, NJ 08544
United States

HOME PAGE: http://lapa.princeton.edu/yaelberda

Princeton University - Department of Sociology ( email )

Princeton, NJ
United States

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