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Abstract

This article proposes a concept of anti-policy along with some propositions concerning how we might research this new topic. It also introduces the four articles which make up this special issue on anti-policy and anti-politics. Anti-policy is a way of registering an undertheorized feature of the contemporary political culture of many western countries, as well as the domain of international politics. This is the ubiquity of discourses, schemes and policies whose stated objective is to combat or negate bad things. Anti-policy includes, but is not limited to, anti-terrorism, anti-racism, anti-trafficking, anti-corruption, anti-poverty and the war on crime. Observing that anti-policy can become a terrain of political struggle in its own right, the article cautions against the assumption that anti-policy can be simply equated with depoliticization.

Keywords

anti-policy anti-politics anti-poverty anti-racism anti-terrorism anti-trafficking governmentality policing security

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Editor's Introduction: Anti-policy and anti-politics

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