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ZeFKo Zeitschrift für Friedens- und Konfliktforschung , Seite 44 - 71

Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) have increasingly received attention from International Relations scholars. While most of the research has thus far been conducted with the aim to define the actor, assess the consequences of the services they perform for states' monopoly over the use of force, or to evaluate the options for regulation, societal responses to these companies have been largely ignored. Focusing on Great Britain and the consultative processes that have been initiated by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with different stakeholders on the options for regulating PMSCs since 2001, this paper constitutes a first step in filling this void in the literature. The analysis of the positions of non-governmental organizations, parlamentarians, the government, and PMSCs is insightful in two respects: First, it sheds light on why the British government has thus far refrained from adopting authoritative controls for PMSCs despite the widely shared assumption that some form of regulation is needed. Second, the findings suggest that a transformation of the state is underway at the intersubjective level. PMSCs and privatization processes in the realm of security are increasingly seen as normal and their legitimacy is no longer questioned.

Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs) have increasingly received attention from International Relations scholars. While most of the research has thus far been conducted with the aim to define the actor, assess the consequences of the services they perform for states' monopoly over the use of force, or to evaluate the options for regulation, societal responses to these companies have been largely ignored. Focusing on Great Britain and the consultative processes that have been initiated by the Foreign and Commonwealth Office with different stakeholders on the options for regulating PMSCs since 2001, this paper constitutes a first step in filling this void in the literature. The analysis of the positions of non-governmental organizations, parlamentarians, the government, and PMSCs is insightful in two respects: First, it sheds light on why the British government has thus far refrained from adopting authoritative controls for PMSCs despite the widely shared assumption that some form of regulation is needed. Second, the findings suggest that a transformation of the state is underway at the intersubjective level. PMSCs and privatization processes in the realm of security are increasingly seen as normal and their legitimacy is no longer questioned.

"Women's Rights as Human Rights" published on by Oxford University Press.

Der Erfolg von Frauenorganisationen beim Thema Gewalt gegen Frauen liegt im wesentlichen im Zusammenwirken von zwei Faktoren begründet, der Veränderung der internationalen Chancenstruktur und der Fähigkeit zur Mobilisierung von institutionellen und ideellen Ressourcen. Zu den wichtigsten Veränderungen der internationalen Chancenstruktur zählen historische Ereignisse (Weltmenschenrechtskonferenz, Ende des Ost-West-Konflikts, Bürgerkrieg in Jugoslawien), ein neuer Zugang zur UNO, das Auftreten von Verbündeten innerhalb und außerhalb der UNO sowie der institutionelle Diskurs. Die Mobilisierung institutioneller und ideeller Ressourcen bezieht sich auf das Entstehen einer internationalen Frauenbewegung, die Fähigkeit zur Mobilisierung substantieller und prozessualer Expertise sowie die Mobilisierung organisierender Institutionen. (ICE2)

"This book examines the self-representation and identity politics of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs). PMSCs have become increasingly important over the past few decades. While their boom is frequently explained in functional terms, such as their cost-efficiency and effectiveness, this book offers an alternative explanation based on an analysis of the online self-presentations of forty-two US and UK-based companies. PMSCs are shaping how they are perceived and establish themselves as acceptable and legitimate security actors by eclectically appropriating identities more commonly associated with the military, businesses and humanitarian actors. Depending on their audience and clients' needs, they can be professional hero-warriors, or promise turn-key security solutions based on their exceptional expertise, or, in a similar way to humanitarians, assure those in need of relief and try to make the world a better place. Rather than being merely public relations, the self-referential assertions of PMSCs are political. Not only do they contribute to a normalization of private security and reinforce an already ongoing blurring of lines between the public and private sectors, they also change what we deem to be 'security' and a 'security actor'. This book will be of much interest to students of private military companies, critical security studies, military studies, security studies and IR"--

Private security companies (PSCs) blur the lines between the public and the private sector through the provision of services to state militaries. Based on a multi-modal qualitative content analysis of YouTube recruitment videos aimed at veterans, we show how PSCs also challenge these boundaries through their hiring practices. By relating to veterans' past as hero warriors and by envisioning their future as corporate soldiers, the companies appear as 'like-military' and as allowing ex-militaries to 'continue their mission'. The findings contribute to scholarly debates about the privatization of security. They illustrate that similarly to the public sector, the private is also re-constituted through the military values that veterans introduce. The study adds to the literature on the visualization of war showing how video-based platforms allow security actors such as PSCs to construct their corporate identity in ambivalent ways by appealing to different emotional levels and by giving rise to different narratives.