Spooky secrets: Analysing the temporality and materiality of secrecy in critical security studies

Abstract

This article investigates the temporal and material relations of secrecy and revelation through the lens of haunting. Critical security scholars have contributed to a deeper understanding of (state) secrecy by unpacking the material and discursive practices that conceal, reveal, or expose information, showing that there is no linear process from secrecy to transparency and accountability. In this article, I contribute to this literature by developing haunting as a concept to study how secrets from the past continue to shape the possibilities of political and legal debate in the present and future. I propose attending to how secrets can haunt specifically in situations where legal transgressions and violent politics are erased. I illustrate this conceptual framework through a case study of two secret operations in the War on Terror by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs. I illustrate how in both instances, secrets refused to remain buried, but rather came back to haunt public and political discussions about accountability. Based on the empirical insights, the conclusion presents future possibilities for studying secretive security issues through a framework of haunting.