Security, Sovereignty, and Non-State Governance "From Below"

Governmentality scholars document the new, pluralistic, post-Keynesian modes of public governance linking State and non State agencies. This emphasis on "governance from above" needs to be complemented by a focus on "governance from below" by non State actors, especially in urban areas. "Governance from below" may involve actors ranging from commercial organisations and citizens' initiatives, to organised crime and paramilitary networks operating as sites beyond the jurisdiction of sovereign law and public authorities within and between countries. In both rich and poor countries these may be antagonistic to but may also become enrolled in forms of public governance. This paper challenges the view that governance from below fills the vacuum left by the retreat of the central nation State. Rather, these developments signify complex forms of re-articulation of relations of governance from above and below, which may at times strengthen the legal authority of the central State.