Private Security in Africa

Across Africa, growing economic inequality, instability and urbanization have led to the rapid spread of private security providers. This is the topic of Paul Higate’s and Mats Utas’ new edited volume, ‘Private Security in Africa.’

The book draws on a wide range of disciplinary approaches, and encompasses anthropology, sociology and political science. It offers unique insight into the lives and experiences of security providers and those affected by them, as well as into the fragile state context, which has allowed them to thrive.

Peter Albrecht has authored one of the book’s chapters, ‘Private Security Beyond the Private Sector: Community Policing and Secret Societies in Sierra Leone. It explores a myriad of institutions, commonly referred to as non-state actors, that often is forgotten in analyses on commercial security.

Empirically, the chapter presents cases on secret societies and community policing forums in rural Sierra Leone. These institutions have emerged under fundamentally different circumstances and serve distinct purposes. They exemplify how ‘the community’, commonly led by traditional leaders, is mobilized to make order at the local level, commonly separately from or in collaboration with the state police.