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The preceding chapters highlighted the longevity and reach of contemporary proscription regimes, as well as the surprising lack of concerted scholarly reflection on the place of these powers in relation to the modern state, and indeed liberal democracy. As we saw, the UK’s own history of proscription is one that we can trace back to the earliest days of the criminal code, although the mechanism is no less significant an expression of political authority today. We argued, therefore, that proscription is reflective of embedded structures of power and authority
This chapter begins our analysis of parliamentary debate around proscription by asking how parliamentarians – as contributors to these debates – make sense of this power. We begin by exploring the primary ways in which parliamentarians introduce or situate this power vis-à -vis the range of alternative counter-terrorism mechanisms available to government, and in relation to the role and responsibilities of government more broadly. As demonstrated below, especial emphasis is placed, in these discussions, on the seriousness and significance of proscription as a
We saw, in Chapter 4 , that parliamentary debate around proscription positions this power as a matter of some significance. For those advocating extending the UK’s list of banned groups, this significance relates to proscription’s (multiple) contributions to national counter-terrorism efforts, and its capacity simultaneously to disrupt, deter, prevent and communicate with those individuals and groups plotting acts of terrorism at home or elsewhere. More cautious or sceptical voices on the other hand have tended to pose proscription’s significance in relation
development of international proscription regimes has solidified the judgement that a whole class of armed groups should be understood as ‘terrorists’ worldwide. In this chapter, I explore what this means for local conflict dynamics and their prospects for resolution. The ‘it’ to which de Soto refers is the idea of talking with listed armed groups, engaging them in peace negotiations. De Soto was
Taken together, the preceding chapters explore three prominent dimensions of parliamentary proscription debates within the United Kingdom. First, Chapter 4 set out competing constructions of proscription’s significance, limitations and dangers. Second, in Chapter 5 , were a diversity of questions posed (often repeatedly) by contributors to these debates. And, third, in Chapter 6 we turned to the broader contribution of these discussions to identity claims about the national self and various (defined and undefined) terrorist others. In so doing, we argued
The UK is far from alone in its history of proscription: global politics is littered with efforts to ban non-state and anti-state groups, especially those with communist, anarchical and anti-colonial provenance. The continuing deployment of proscription by parliamentary democracies, dictatorships and oligarchies alike is testament to its enduring appeal for those in power; an indicator, perhaps, of a fear that popular revolt, or the dismantling of the state by other means, remains plausible. Today, proscription powers are deployed widely by states in the
Proscription makes the barriers higher. It makes things more difficult. To motivate your side, you need to say they are really evil, but it would be more strategic for the entry price to negotiations to be lower. Jonathan Powell 1
In Chapters 4 and 5 we saw how parliamentarians debate orders from the executive to extend the UK’s list of proscribed organisations. As argued there, these debates include, amongst other things, diverse perspectives on proscription’s significance, as well as a range of questions regarding proscription’s mechanics, consequences and beyond. These perspectives and questions, we argued, help to make proscription meaningful (for national security, citizenship and so forth), shedding light on a more complex politics of security than we might expect, and than is
government altered the power relations in the lead-up to the Havana negotiations in the context of proscription. The framework set out in Chapter 3 explored a wide understanding of power. Building on the work of Mack ( 1975 ), Zartman ( 1997 ), Philipson ( 2005 ) and Mitchell ( 2009 ), I argued that the asymmetry between a government and armed group can be based on a range of different sources of power
We begin our exploration of proscription in the UK with a brief genealogy of the development, use and application of banning powers from the medieval to the modern era. As we shall see, radicalism, terrorism and political violence have been central concerns of almost all local and national authorities through the rocky political history of the British Isles and its dominions. 1 From Saxon Britain to the Rump Parliament to the British Empire, suppression of the threat posed by individuals and political movements has made use of a gamut of precipitous