Focus #5: Power and Its Shadow
Power and Its Shadow:
Figures and Relationships of Political Power and Intelligence Services in Security Series
June 14, 2022, 14h-18h
Campus Lourcine, 1 Rue de la Glacière, 75013 Paris
ISJPS, Bât. 1, 3e étage, espace Gisèle Halimi
(for persons not affiliated with Paris 1, advanced registration is required to access the space—please register by email at [email protected])
One of the unique features of security series is the way in which they take the viewer behind the scenes of the security services. Homeland (Showtime, 2011-2020) focuses on the CIA, Le Bureau des legendes (Canal+, 2015-2020) looks at the DGSE’s clandestine service, while Fauda (Netflix, 2015) follows members of the IDF’s mista'arvim unit and Killing Eve (BBC America, 2018-2022) or Spooks (BBC One 2002-2011) navigate between MI-5 and MI-6. These series thus make visible what usually escapes the gaze of citizens. They reveal the secret dimension of the exercise of political power and provide the framework for a common representation and a shared conversation on its action. But just as singularly, these series depict the relationship between the security services and the public figures of political power, in particular through the figure of the Head of State or one of his or her representatives (ministers, cabinet members, security advisers, etc.). 24 (Fox, 2001-2010) regularly depicts the meeting between agent Jack Bauer and the President of the United States, in Homeland, the newly elected president Elizabeth Keane distances herself from the CIA, while in a different register, in the Ukrainian series Servant of the People (1+1, 2015-2019), President Goloborodko uses his secret services to trap oligarchs corrupting the government…
How do these series represent the relationship between political power and the security services? How do they articulate the tension between the duty of discretion of the security services and the duty of transparency of political leaders? How does this tension affect understanding of the security at stake in these stories? Can we expect, through these representations, a more complete, more realistic, or more pedagogical depiction of the exercise of power within a democracy?
Program:
14h-14h15: Introduction by Sandra LAUGIER, Professor of Philosophy, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne
Moderator: Juliet FLOYD, Professor of Philosophy, Boston University
14h15-15h: “Mensonges, dissimulations et déni plausible dans 24h Chrono” by Sylvie ALLOUCHE, post-doctoral researcher, ERC Demoseries.
15h-15h45: “Agents au service de l’état, ou hommes de mains de l’ombre ?” by Théo TOURET-DENGREVILLE, researcher, ERC Demoseries.
15h45-16h: Coffee Break
16h-16h45: “Restaurer la confiance : responsabilité présidentielle et usage des services secrets dans Serviteur du Peuple” by Thibaut de SAINT MAURICE, doctoral student, ERC Demoseries.
16h45-17h15: “AI, Surveillance, and Freedom of Expression: Philosophies in Conflict” by Jim KATZ, Director of Program and Field Professor of Emerging Media, Boston University
17h15-18h: Discussion and Final Remarks
This event will be held in a hybrid format. To receive a Zoom link, please register by filling out the contact form at the following address: https://www.demoseries.eu/contact
