Imaginative Geographies and Homeland Insecurities: An American T.V. Drama’s Portrayal of Pakistan and the Discourse of U.S. Security Mechanisms in the Post 9/11 Era

Abstract

Using interpretative phenomenological analysis, this article examines the fourth season of the T.V. series Homeland, a show that dramatizes U.S. CIA anti-terrorism operations. The fourth season of Homeland set in Islamabad, Pakistan sparked controversy. We analyze this controversy and some of the key themes of the fourth season. This work reveals the show’s portrayal of a 'discourse of danger'. Central to this is Homeland’s portrayal of Pakistan as dangerous and unstable, with Islamist terrorism being regarded as the most significant destabilizing factor. We examine how the show constructs the U.S. as a 'Homeland' which must be understood to possess the imperatives of 'national security'. To analyze these themes we utilize conceptual frameworks developed by Michel Foucault. Foucault examined how since the eighteenth century western societies have situated apparatuses of security as its essential technical instrument. Foucault went beyond legal codes and disciplinary mechanisms to examine the function of ‘mechanisms of security’. We also utilize Giorgio Agamben’s work on the ‘state of exception’ to further the analysis of ‘mechanisms of security’ used to suspend legal rights.