How to Perform Voluntary Transparency More Efficiently: Airport Security Pedagogy in the Post-9/11 Era

Transportation security pedagogy addresses people’s capacities to be trained to perform voluntary transparency, unless limited by a medical condition or disability. This chapter analyzes two campaigns designed to train the traveling public in the art of efficient submission to post-9/11 security protocols. It also examines two campaigns addressed to TSA employees. The first trains agents to be sensitive when performing physical pat-down inspections on those passengers unable to be screened by machine because of a disability or medical condition. The second teaches TSA employees how to provide security with a smile. Across these diverse campaigns, one finds a range of social models, including egalitarian, ruthless individualism, government assistance for those unable to perform reflexive governance, and the good-vibes security state. A shared aesthetics of transparency provides consistency across these models. Each promotes a transparent airport environment.