Never Mind the Bollards: Exploring the Role of GCHQ, MI5, and the National Technical Authorities in UK Security Markets

ABSTRACT

The cultures and governance of security markets in the United Kingdom are often characterised through a paradoxical narrative of simultaneous state retreat and progressive advance. In the face of repeated recent high-profile security failures, and global changes in material political economy, we argue that UK security governance is adapting to further manage the security market in new ‘strategic’ ways. We explore the beginnings of a series of changes in the orientation of security governance, with the state re-asserting scientific and symbolic authority over a wider range of security arenas. Through new bodies—the National Technical Authorities—the UK state is mobilising the security services (GCHQ and MI5) to shape security markets and cultures directly. It is doing this through co-ordinating information flow; researching and setting material standards; shaping the education, public research, and skills environment; and finally through deploying the symbolic power and authority of the spy agencies, the sovereign state, and empire.