While contemporary inquiries into the theoretical linkages between political economy and security are rare, the exploration of these connections was the cornerstone of political, social and economic philosophy during the upheavals of Enlightenment Europe. "A General Police System," a term borrowed from the late 18th century thinker Patrick Colquhoun, examines the overlapping genealogies of commerce, security, surveillance, and the problem of poverty in the works of foundational English and Continental intellectuals of the 17th to early 19th centuries. This book reviews and revives the epic project of police and critically examines the drive to classify, regulate and control populations, providing a renewed materialist contribution toward a critique of security.

While contemporary inquiries into theoretical linkages between political economy and security are rare, the exploration of these connections formed the cornerstone of political, social and economic philosophy during the upheavals of post-feudal Europe. "A General Police System," a term borrowed from the late eighteenth century thinker Patrick Colquhoun, examines the overlapping genealogies of commerce, security, surveillance and the problem of poverty in the works of foundational English and Continental thinkers of the 17th to early 19th centuries. The authors thus revive the epic project of police and critically re-examine its drive to classify, regulate and control populations, providing a renewed materialist contribution toward a contemporary critique of security.

"The Soldier's Song"

Unto this time calmer tides he had seen,

For a tempest neared the sea, having been

Summoned to fulfill a vow he had sworn.

From the comfort of his life he was torn,

Taken elsewhere, to an unknown land,

To an untold foe, where he would band

Together with many, who the same fate

Share- to near and tread the enemy's gate

Where a brother in arms fell to the ground

By the hatred of an enemy's round.

Such courage did abound

From within his heart, as he heard the sound,

The cry of his brother near to the mound

Of earth that he hurried to surround

And shield the life of his friend with his own.

Of the seeds among battle that are sown,

This deed stands highest among them, alone.

And though in death courage is boldly shown,

Only in love is it best known.

Hence the earth, this day, a canvas was made

Upon which an estranged beauty was laid,

And a garden was sown, which bade

A flustering paradox to be made.

For man's best and worst this field adorns,

And a rose blooms of petals and thorns.

Then the war he lasted, and his friend

He saved and returned home to rest and mend

His broken heart and jaded limbs, too long

Availed. Sated, he sang his weary song

And strived withal to rekindle his lost

Life, as rose flowers beneath the frost.