Territories of fear and privatization of security in Europe

Abstract

The 2015 refugee crisis; the realization that the risk of terrorism in Europe is now greater;
the increasing intensity of flows that escape regulatory instruments; the deepening
of inequalities; the deconstruction of the traditional idea of family community, and the
suspicion of states managing budgetary constraints, are among the factors that increase
distrust and promote self-closing attitudes. The lifting of material and immaterial walls
and barriers that fragment space; the diffusion of safe urban planning, such as closed
condominiums, as well as the expansion of the economy of private surveillance, control
and protection of products and services, are among the most important issues in most
European countries. It is in this sense that, at different geographical scales, a Europe, that
is now less cohesive, is structured around territories of fear and mistrust that have led to
the privatization of public space, to processes of confinement and social atomization and to
the increase of distances between citizens.