Securing a Safe City

Abstract

While contemporary ethnographies on “security” focus on abstract notions of safety or the active implementation of security measures, this paper dives into the passive, subconscious structures shaping the labor conditions of residential security guards in Hong Kong. Private security forces have been around since ancient civilization and are so familiar that they have become vastly overlooked in modern society, camouflaging within the social landscape. However, private security forces are everywhere in Hong Kong, crucial to the high levels of safety and convenience of the city’s residents. Security companies display consistent employment practices showing the intrinsic nature of how companies manage their labor in a capitalist economy. This paper depicts how divides between socio-economic groups and security perceptions channel middle-aged or elderly sectors towards residential security guard employment. Additionally, labor management strategies and relationships between residents and security guards further reinforce the structure of dominance, maintaining the status quo while preventing the security guards from unionizing and creating change.