The Raft of the Medusa; further contributions towards a Constabulary Ethics

author James Sheptycki
journal Cahiers Politiestudies (ISSN: 1784-5300)
volume Jaargang 2010
issue 16. Policing in Europe
section Artikelen
date of publication July 26, 2010
language English
pagina 39
abstract

This paper2 seeks to develop a stand-point epistemology for ‘Constabulary Ethics’. It focuses attention onto the philosophical question: ‘what is good policing?’. It begins with an overview of the current state of knowledge pertaining to transnational policing in Europe. The paper suggests that policing research in Europe is trapped between two opposing philosophical views, on the one hand naïve liberal international institutionalism and on the other that of a global corporate dystopian complex. The paper then aims to break the paradigmatic impasse. It segues into a discussion of Théodore Géricault’s great painting The Raft of the Medusa, maintaining that the drama of the painting metaphorically foregrounds an understanding of the common human predicament in which policing is enacted. The paper observes further contemporary developments in transnational policing in Europe indicating that the Raft of the Medusa is being loaded. It concludes by arguing that the essence of the Constabulary Ethic idea is the realization that we, police and policed, all sail or sink together.