ABSTRACT
In this chapter, Adam Sandor analyses the place of performances of visual ritual, commonly practiced in West Africa, in security theory. Ritual performances compose an important genre of visual security practice, especially in environments that rely heavily on other forms of political communication than televisual images. African political elites have become very adept at strategizing meaning in rituals that play to multiple simultaneous audiences. The meanings that resonate for multiple audiences will be different, and based on historical and contextual factors. Sandor uses these insights to analyse the visual rituals of security of West African governments on 26 June, World Drug Day. On this day, West African police forces, customs agencies, and National Offices charged with administering the ‘fight against drugs’ perform rituals of security through grandiose visual spectacle. Through the use of visual ritual performances, securitizing agents of West African states perform securitizing moves by drawing on repertoires of globally perceived weaknesses and locally perceived strengths.
