House security systems – who really benefits?

Your personal safety is big business, so much so that it’s given rise to “security capitalism”, a phenomenon where attempts to buy personal safety shape the world around us. As security becomes just another status symbol, do these gadgets make us safer or do they create a whole new list of anxieties – a self-fulfilling prophecy of perceived threat and risk aversion? This conversation 'Trapped: Does the security industry make us less safe?' was recorded at the CUNY Graduate Centre. Original broadcast on May 29, 2025.SpeakersMark MaguireProfessor of anthropology at Maynooth University, co-author, Trapped: Life Under Security Capitalism and How to Escape ItSetha LowProfessor of psychology, anthropology, earth and environmental sciences, and women's and gender studies at the CUNY Graduate Center, co-author, Trapped: Life Under Security Capitalism and How to Escape ItAlex Vitale (host)Professor of sociology and coordinator of the Policing and Social Justice Project at Brooklyn College and the CUNY Graduate Center