Security Privatisation as Governance Assemblage: The Norwegian Case
Security Privatisation as Governance Assemblage: The Norwegian Case

Summary/Abstract: This article analyses security privatisation in Norway through the lens of Assemblage Theory, conceptualising it not as a retreat of the state but as a strategic reconfiguration of authority, responsibility, and control. Based on legal analysis, policy documents, and empirical research, the study examines how public authorities, private security providers, and technological systems co-produce security across three domains: nightlife governance, maritime protection, and critical infrastructure security. The findings demonstrate that security privatisation in Norway is predominantly state-orchestrated, characterised by selective delegation, strict regulatory embedding, and clear boundary-setting. Private actors operate within tightly defined institutional frameworks that preserve the state’s monopoly over legitimate coercion while redistributing operational tasks and frontline security labour. By framing these arrangements as a territorialised yet adaptive security assemblage, the article advances debates on security governance in high-capacity welfare states and challenges interpretations of privatisation as neoliberal deregulation or state withdrawal.

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