1st Edition

Selling Us the Fortress The Promotion of Techno-Security Equipment for Schools

By Ronnie Casella Copyright 2006
    256 Pages 17 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    256 Pages 17 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    In the wake of school shootings and the more recent threats of terrorism, schools - like many public institutions - have begun installing techno-security equipment ranging from surveillance cameras to microchip tracking systems. Is this equipment necessary and who really benefits from its use? Selling Us the Fortress, the first qualitative study of the relationship between the security industry and schools, analyzes how technologies once reserved primarily for war have become a common fixture in modern schools, including detailing how school personnel are "sold" on the idea that the mass installation of techno-security is in their best interest. 

    Introduction: Getting Down to Business of Being Safe  1. The Security Industry and the Public School Market  2. Selling Social Betterment for Ones Own Private Utopia  3. The Safest Society Technology Can Create and Money Can Buy  4. The Promises of Techno-Security Fortification  5. Horror Stories that Sell  6. Security, the Law, and Federal Policy  7. Transactions on the Open Market  Conclusion. The Big Business of Big Brother.  Appendix: Overview of Research  Notes.  References.  Glossary and List of Organizations.  Index

    Biography

    Ronnie Casella is Associate Professor of Educational Foundations and Secondary Education at Central Connecticut State University.