When everyday social situations and cultural phenomena come to be associated with a threat to security, security becomes a value which competes with other values - particularly the right to privacy and human rights. In this comparison, security appears as an obvious choice over the loss of some aspects of other values and is seen as a reasonable and worthwhile sacrifice because of what security promises to deliver. When the value of security is elevated to the top of the collective priorities, it becomes a meta-frame, a reference point in relation to which other aspects of social life are articulated and organized. With the tendency to treat a variety of social issues as security threats and the public's growing acceptance of surveillance as an inevitable form of social control, the security meta-frame rises to the level of a dominant organizing principle in such a way that it shapes the parameters and the conditions of daily living.

This volume offers case studies from multiple countries that show how our private and public life is shaped by the security meta-frame and surveillance. It is essential reading for everyone who is interested in the changes to be faced in social life, privacy, and human freedoms during this age of security and surveillance.

Introduction: Security Meta-Framing: A Cultural Logic of an Ordering Practice Vida Bajc Public Spaces and Collective Activities 1. "No Joking!" Mark Salter 2. Security Meta-framing of Collective Activity in Public Spaces: The Pope John Paul II in the Holy City Vida Bajc Struggle and Resistance 3. When the Israeli State of Exception Meets the Exception: The Case of Tali Fahima Liora Sion 4. Rethinking National Security Policies and Practices in Transnational Contexts: Border Resistance Kathleen Staudt Law, Citizenship, and the State 5. A Note on Security Modulation Willem de Lint 6. Before the Law: Creeping Lawlessness in Canadian National Security Reem Bahdi 7. The Pre-Emptive Mode of Regulation: Terrorism, Law, and Security Gabe Mythen Global Agendas, Local Transformations 8. Re/Building the E.U.: Governing through Counterterrorism Sirpa Virta 9. Transnational Media Corporations (TNMCs) and National Culture as a Security Concern in China Jiang Fei and Huang Kuo 10. Security Metamorphosis in Latin America Nelson Arteaga Botello Conclusion: Security and Everyday Life Willem de Lint

Vida Bajc is completing her doctorate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Pennsylvania.

Willem de Lint is Professor of Criminal Justice at Flinders Law School, Flinders University of South Australia.