Security for sale in modern Britain: security provision, ensembles and cultures, 1785 - 1995

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Today, we are surrounded by security commodities: our shopping centres are patrolled by private guards, our town centres watched over by CCTV, our computers protected by anti-malware systems and firewalls, our homes fortified by locks and alarms. With the arrival of the 'internet of things', the security landscape is expanding further, as physical security devices are networked with other technologies to form 'smart' security systems. Almost everywhere, it seems, we navigate everyday risks through the purchase of security commodities - products and services which seek to safeguard property and information against risk - supplied by a vast global industry. Behind these developments is a revealing yet largely forgotten history. The last two hundred years have seen profound growth in commodified security: in Britain alone, a handful of specialist lock-making firms have morphed into a vast and powerful industry, which fed a market of over £1.2 billion by the 1990s. The social and cultural consequences of this development were profound. Not only has the commodification of security subtly shaped the way we imagine crime, fire and other risks - it has also underpinned and facilitated fundamental transformations in social life. Guaranteeing security for valuable property and information, security products and services have preserved museum and gallery collections, shielded the assets of the rich, maintained the records of modern bureaucracies, protected state and corporate secrets, safeguarded goods in transit and through customs, and enabled the mass circulation of paper currency. In short, security commodities - provided through the market - have helped stitch together the very fabric of modern economic, social and cultural life.This fellowship will explore the development of commodified security in Britain, 1785-1995 - from the first production of Bramah's 'unpickable' lock to a key Parliamentary inquiry into the security industry. Focusing on five key security commodities - locks, safes, alarms, guarding and secure transit services - the research will illuminate the business history of the security trade, the social and technical history of security systems (or 'ensembles'), and the cultural history of attitudes towards risk and security. It will provide a holistic account of how security was commodified, analysing shifts in the design, production and consumption of products and services, and tracing them through society - into banks, warehouses, offices, public institutions and private homes. The research will provide a revealing insight into how security firms have shaped our understanding of risk, and how engagements with security refract wider attitudes towards privacy, trust and responsibility for protection. It will demonstrate the role security commodities have played in social change - how everyday products and services were implicated in the emergence of modern record systems, the preservation of historic and cultural artefacts, the formation of cultures of secrecy, and more besides. In these ways, the research will highlight the economic, social and cultural consequences of security commodification, reaching far beyond immediate problems of crime and fire into the heart of everyday social life. Furthermore, working with archives, museums and private security organisations, the fellowship will highlight the value of 'security heritage' - paper records, material artefacts and other fragments of security's pasts - and advocate for the preservation and utilisation of such historic resources. It will also engage with members of the public, harnessing creative uses of security heritage to illustrate the contemporary relevance and resonances of the research in an age of 'smart' security. In these ways, the fellowship will connect contemporary issues in security with a rich history, demonstrating the value of historical research in addressing concerns regarding how best to live with risk in our own time.