Non-lethal Weapons as Legitimising Forces?: Technology, Politics and the Management of Conflict

by Rappert,Brian

• ISBN13: 9780714654409
• ISBN10: 071465440X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2003-05-01
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Whether in international military interventions or routine policing activities the use of force raises a host of questions about appropriateness, necessity and proportionality. Recently attention has focused on the possibility of so-called "non-lethal" weapons to provide greater legitimacy to the use of force by minimizing injury. Acoustic weapons that shatter windows and cause internal damage, electromagnetic pulse beams designed to knock individuals down and cause seizures, and chemical agents that act as calmatives are all envisioned. This study describes the current "state of the art" weapons and focuses on their justifications through a combination of insights from security and peace studies, criminology, and science and technology studies. This publication should be of interest to anyone concerned about past and future development of force and the operation of risky technologies. Police and military practitioners, members of non-governmental organizations and students of technology studies,criminology, science policy, security studies, risk and social movements should find this book of interest.

Author Biography

Brian Rappert is a Research Fellow in the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Nottingham, UK.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	vii
Foreword	ix
Frank Barnaby
Acknowledgements	xiii
Abbreviations	xiv
Introduction	1	(16)
PART I: CLAIMS AND EXPECTATIONS
What's in a Name?	17	(18)
Tools of the Trade	35	(27)
Threats and Promises	62	(29)
PART II: TECHNOLOGIES, CONTEXTS AND CONTROLS
Weapons of Minimal Harm?: Assessing Effects	91	(31)
On to the Streets: Examining Major Deployments of Non-Lethals	122	(26)
Controlling Evaluations: The Prospects for Prohibitions	148	(27)
PART III: CASE STUDIES
CS Sprays in Britain	175	(27)
Gauging Electroshock Weapons	202	(26)
Humanitarian Interventions, Humanitarian Tools?	228	(23)
Conclusions and Recommendations	251	(26)
Select Bibliography	277	(4)
Index	281