Age of Security : The Rise of a Global Obsession - Ruben Andersson
Ruben Andersson
£22.00
- Pages · 352 pages
- Publication Date · 13/08/2026
- Genre · Reportage & collected journalism
Collect in store
Pick it up free from the shop in Oxford's Covered Market, usually quicker than the post.
Delivery
Standard tracked £1.99, free on orders over £20. Express tracked £2.99.
Book Lovers' Happy Hour
Three cocktails matched to your taste, three books chosen for you, an hour and a half at the bar. £60 per person.
Book a place →
This is not normal. It can be resisted. Find out how' ANTONY LOEWENSTEIN
'Breaking out of the container of containment, and restoring politics to its rightful place in human life, is perhaps our most urgent task' KENAN MALIK, THE OBSERVER ________________________________ What would you give up to feel safe? The security industry has captured our politics and our private lives. From rogue states to smart doorbells, someone is always keeping a watchful eye - and we're paying a heavy price. Anthropologist Ruben Andersson shows how Big Security rose to power, generating unprecedented profits while failing to protect us. In this page-turning dispatch from security's frontlines - across the divides separating political right and left and global rich and poor - he pursues police chiefs in Swedish suburbs, shelters with migrants in Mexico, bunkers down with peacekeepers in Mali and mingles with arms dealers in Paris. Everywhere, he finds that our shared obsession with security is an act of retreat: high walls, constant surveillance and punitive policies offer the illusion of control while fuelling paranoia and precarity. Every tracking app installed, border fortified, or emergency law passed makes us more fearful and less free. Our age of security is a dystopian response to political failure - but it's not too late to replace runaway security with a humanist vision where fear no longer controls us. Privacy, freedom, democratic control - we have already given up so much in the name of safety. But once we see how security has trapped us, we can start to break free. 'Brilliantly thought-provoking' MARK GALEOTTI
'Propulsive and urgent . a panoramic exploration of our world' MARTHA SPURRIER
'Breaking out of the container of containment, and restoring politics to its rightful place in human life, is perhaps our most urgent task' KENAN MALIK, THE OBSERVER ________________________________ What would you give up to feel safe? The security industry has captured our politics and our private lives. From rogue states to smart doorbells, someone is always keeping a watchful eye - and we're paying a heavy price. Anthropologist Ruben Andersson shows how Big Security rose to power, generating unprecedented profits while failing to protect us. In this page-turning dispatch from security's frontlines - across the divides separating political right and left and global rich and poor - he pursues police chiefs in Swedish suburbs, shelters with migrants in Mexico, bunkers down with peacekeepers in Mali and mingles with arms dealers in Paris. Everywhere, he finds that our shared obsession with security is an act of retreat: high walls, constant surveillance and punitive policies offer the illusion of control while fuelling paranoia and precarity. Every tracking app installed, border fortified, or emergency law passed makes us more fearful and less free. Our age of security is a dystopian response to political failure - but it's not too late to replace runaway security with a humanist vision where fear no longer controls us. Privacy, freedom, democratic control - we have already given up so much in the name of safety. But once we see how security has trapped us, we can start to break free. 'Brilliantly thought-provoking' MARK GALEOTTI
'Propulsive and urgent . a panoramic exploration of our world' MARTHA SPURRIER
Only at Gulp Fiction
Book Lovers' Happy Hour
An hour and a half at the bar, with three cocktails matched to your taste and three books chosen for you. Tell us what you like when you book, and we'll have them waiting when you arrive.
- 1½ hours
- £60 per person
- 3 cocktails, 3 books
Up to four of you can come — book a place each and choose the same time slot, then tell us who you're with. For larger groups, email gulpfictionbooks@gmail.com and we'll arrange it.
Collect in store
Order online and pick it up from the shop. It's free, and usually quicker than the post.
Find us
Units 28–29, Covered Market, Oxford OX1 3DU. Mon–Wed 10–5, Thu–Sat 10–10, Sun 11–4.
Book a table
The bar is open late Thursday to Saturday. Reserve a table for a drink among the books.