The Police in Global Perspective

Catalog description

Do the police exist primarily to protect people from violence and solve crimes, or is it fundamentally and by design an instrument of state repression and social control? This course will address this question by looking at the history of the police in France, the United Kingdom, and their colonies in Africa and Asia, from the 18th century to the present. Police forces are a central element of the state apparatus and exercise authority in most societies. Their powers are extensive, and often face little government scrutiny. Yet, the police are also a deeply contested presence, with overt or underground civil resistance limiting their powers or legitimacy. By looking at metropoles and colonies, the course will address the following questions: How did the concept and realities of policing evolve between the 1700s and today? Why are some groups or individuals more likely to be targeted by the police? Who decides what constitutes a crime, and how did these definitions evolve over time? In what way has civil society pushed back against policing? How is policing linked to broader issues such as racialized power structures in metropoles and colonies, nationalism, decolonization, the rise of the far right, and human rights?