Routledge Private Security Studies
About the Book Series
The series will publish books in the area of Private Security Studies, broadly defined. It invites research publications contributing to and advancing existing research agendas and is particularly eager to welcome research doing this through diverse theoretical and disciplinary perspectives, as well as interdisciplinary work.
Advisory Board:
Rita Abrahamsen, University of Ottawa
Deborah Avant, Denver University
Navita Behera, Univeristy of Delhi
Pinar Bilgin, Bilkent University
Christian Bueger, Cardiff University
Deborah Cowen, University of Toronto
Marieke de Goede, Free University, Amsterdam
Rebecca de Winter-Schmitt, American University/ Amnesty International
Mervin Frost, King's College London
Thomas Gammeltoft-Hansen, Roul Wallenberg Institute
Ben Goold, University of British Columbia
Monica Herz, PUC Rio de Janeiro
Aida Hozic, Florida University
Christopher Kinsey, King's College London
Keith Krause, Institut d'Hautes Etudes en Relations Internationales, Geneva
Mark Laffey, School of African and Oriental Studies
Ian Loader, Oxford University
Roxanne Lynn-Doty, University of Arizona
James Pattison, University of Manchester
Sarah Percy, University of Western Australia
Clifford Shearing, Griffith University
Christopher Spearin, Canadian Forces College
Maria Stern, Göteborgs Universitet
Nigel White, University of Nottingham
Klaus Dieter Wolf, Peace Research Institute Frankfurt
Kirstie Ball, University of St Andrews
Eugenio Cusumano, University of Messina
Normalising Private Military Force: US Media Discourse and the Legitimization of Private Security Companies in Iraq
1st Edition
By Christopher Kearney
September 03, 2025
This book examines the normalization of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs), and analyses US media discourse around the Nisour Square incident in Iraq as a pivotal case. States are increasingly relying on PMSCs to meet security needs. As a sign of ongoing normalization, these companies ...
Mercenaries and Security Contractors in the 21st Century: The Past and Future of Private Force
1st Edition
Edited
By Eugenio Cusumano, Christopher Kinsey, Robert Parr
March 31, 2025
This book examines the debate over private security contractors, using historical and contemporary cases, including several non-Western examples. Since the end of the Cold War, security privatization has grown in its geographical outreach, breadth, and scope. This pervasive expansion of the private...
Hybridization, Intervention and Authority: Security Beyond Conflict in Sierra Leone
1st Edition
By Peter Albrecht
July 23, 2019
This book explains how security is organized from the local to the national level in post-war Sierra Leone, and how external actors attempted to shape the field through security sector reform. Security sector reform became an important and deeply political instrument to establish peace in Sierra ...
Private Military and Security Companies as Legitimate Governors: From Barricades to Boardrooms
1st Edition
By Berenike Prem
June 24, 2019
This book examines the legitimation of Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs), focusing on the controversy between PMSCs and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). While existing studies disproportionately emphasizes the ability for companies and their clients to dominate and shape ...