The global story of how security has taken over our politics and private lives.

Security has infiltrated our politics and private lives, from the resurgence of global warfare to the rise of Ring doorbells. Drawing from the front lines of our paranoid world, anthropologist Ruben Andersson demonstrates how security has risen to power, why it fails to deliver on its promises, and in fact makes us significantly less safe, as well as how we all participate in security interventions in our daily lives – and how we can all resist.

This incredible work of narrative nonfiction is the culmination of decades of fearless research, as Andersson follows police chiefs in Swedish suburbs, integrates with migrants in Mexico, joins peacekeeping forces in Mali, and dines with arms dealers in Paris. Around the world, our collective obsession with security is an act of retreat and futility, as we cannot secure our way to safety behind high walls. Only in an open, shared society, with a strong social safety net and robust freedom of speech, where fear no longer controls us, do we find true security. Once we understand how security has imprisoned us, we can begin to break free from our chains.