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Accumulation in Post-Colonial Capitalism pp 75–92Cite as

Security and the City: Post-Colonial Accumulation, Securitization, and Urban Development in Kolkata

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Abstract

The chapter explores the interconnected issues of accumulation, securitization, and governmentality in the context of transformation of the city of Kolkata into a ‘world-class’ metropolis. In both academic and common languages, securitization has rapidly embraced a wider meaning; this includes the increasing emphasis on security in the political debate and the growth of a global security apparatus . In this chapter, the author discusses securitization in relation to what have recently been described as ‘operations of capital ’, which include the functions of extraction, logistics, and finance that are crucial in understanding how global capital works. The author investigates the security industry and urban changes in Kolkata and explores urban securitization as a global capitalistic process. Based on interviews with the relevant actors, both in the security industry including workers, managers, and advisors, and in the urban transformation sector that included developers, residents, and local authorities, and archival research and discourse analysis of relevant documents, the author argues that securitization , besides supporting and complementing the processes of accumulation over cities, constitutes a space of intense accumulation itself. But simultaneously, it becomes crucial for governance of a contradictory and contended urban space . The market-oriented interventions on the city have allowed for an impressive growth of the security business . Yet, the process of securitization has exceeded the pattern of urban development . It has become a powerful industry, as well as a strategy for management of at least two principal effects of accumulation: dispossession and disruption.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Among the rich debate on post-colonial capitalism, I particularly refer to Sanyal (2007), Mezzadra (2011), Samaddar (2012).

  2. 2.

    http://jnnurm.nic.in/.

  3. 3.

    In a recent intervention, Ranabir Samaddar brilliantly illustrates how the moment of crisis connected to the recurring of the moment of accumulation lies at the core of post-colonial capitalism (Samaddar 2014).

  4. 4.

    Interview taken in June 2015.

  5. 5.

    An Albanian-born Catholic Nun, Agnes Bojaxhiu, later known as Mother Teresa, founded her Order of Missionaries of Charity in 1948 in Calcutta, for the purpose of helping the poor and sick in India and other countries. Her work drew great attention to the dramatic hygienic and economic conditions of the city of Calcutta. Mother Teresa became an international symbol of charity and received numerous acknowledgements and prizes for her activities, including the Nobel Peace Prize in 1979. Yet, her figure results controversial in some respect, as she drew criticism regarding the financial resources of the Order of Missionaries, suspects of forced conversions of the sufferers, and her support of the most conservative Catholic positions against birth control and abortion. For a complete picture of the character, see Serrou (1980), Chatterjee (2002), and Hitchens (1995).

  6. 6.

    This pretty brutal word was used by one of the managers of City Centre 2, a shopping mall in New Town, precisely to describe what happened to the local people where their lands were acquired.

  7. 7.

    Interview taken in June 2015.

  8. 8.

    This includes the Ecospace Business Park, City Centre 2 shopping mall, and several residential enclaves.

  9. 9.

    ‘Private Security Services Industry: Securing Future Growth’, report published by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry: http://www.ficci.com/spdocument/20329/Private-security-services-industry-Securing-future-growth1.pdf; accessed on 10 February 2016.

  10. 10.

    National Crime Reports Bureau, http://ncrb.nic.in/StatPublications/CII/CII2014/Table%202.1.pdf; http://ncrb.nic.in/StatPublications/CII/CII2014/Table%202.2.pdf.

  11. 11.

    Interview taken in May 2015 with a manager of a security firm in Kolkata.

  12. 12.

    Among the countless interventions on the increasing role of knowledge, emotions, and ‘the immaterial’ in the capitalistic processes, Cognitive Capitalism (Moulier-Boutang 2012) has been particularly useful for my research.

  13. 13.

    Men’s clothing which is a cloth wrapped around the waist and worn floor length.

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Acknowledgment

I am grateful to the Calcutta Mahanirban Research Group for providing an outstanding collection of studies as well as a thought-provoking intellectual environment from which I have benefited greatly during my research in Kolkata. The work of Prof. Nandini Gooptu—the only existing one on the security industry in Kolkata at the time I engaged with the topic—has taught me much and helped me frame my investigation. Finally, my deep gratitude goes to V. Ramaswamy, for his kind support, precious advice, and wonderful tales.

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  1. Institute for Culture and Society, Western Sydney University, Richmond, Australia

    Ilia Antenucci

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  1. Ilia Antenucci
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Correspondence to Ilia Antenucci .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

    Iman Kumar Mitra

  2. Director, Mahanirban Calcutta Research Group, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

    Ranabir Samaddar

  3. School of Women’s Studies, Jadavpur University , Kolkata, West Bengal, India

    Samita Sen

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Antenucci, I. (2017). Security and the City: Post-Colonial Accumulation, Securitization, and Urban Development in Kolkata. In: Mitra, I., Samaddar, R., Sen, S. (eds) Accumulation in Post-Colonial Capitalism. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1037-8_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-1037-8_4

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