Anxiety, fear, and ontological security in world politics: thinking with and beyond Giddens

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 240-256 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catarina Kinnvall ◽  
Jennifer Mitzen
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Status Quo Bias ◽  
Ontological Security ◽  
Cognitive Consistency ◽  
Constitution Building ◽  
Existentialist Philosophy ◽  
Theoretic Foundations ◽  
The Relationship

Research on ontological security in world politics has mushroomed since the early 2000s but seems to have reached an impasse. Ontological security is a conceptual lens for understanding subjectivity that focuses on the management of anxiety in self-constitution. Building especially on Giddens, IR scholars have emphasized how this translates to a need for cognitive consistency and biographical continuity – a security of ‘being.’ A criticism has been its so-called ‘status quo bias,’ a perceived tilt toward theorizing investment in the existing social order. To some, an ontological security lens both offers social theoretic foundations for a realist worldview and lacks resources to conceptualize alternatives. We disagree. Through this symposium, we address that critique and suggest pathways forward by focusing on the thematic of anxiety. Distinguishing between anxiety and fear, we note that anxiety manifests in different emotions and leaves room for a range of political possibilities. Early ontological security scholarship relied heavily on readings of Giddens, which potentially accounts for its bias. This symposium re-opens the question of the relationship between anxiety and subjectivity from the perspective of ontological security, thinking with and beyond Giddens. Three contributions re-think anxiety in ontological security drawing on existentialist philosophy; two address limitations of Giddens' approach.

Anxiety, fear, and ontological security in world politics

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 238-239
Author(s):  
Catarina Kinnvall ◽  
Jennifer Mitzen
Keyword(s):  
World Politics ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Ontological Security ◽  
The Unconscious ◽  
Existential Anxiety ◽  
Anthony Giddens ◽  
Existentialist Philosophy ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Do So

AbstractThis symposium addresses the role of anxiety, fear, and ontological (in)security in world politics. Proceeding from the recognition of the scholarly interest and multitude of approaches that characterize the field of ontological (in)security studies, the Symposium homes in on the relationship between anxiety and fear, and between anxiety, subjectivity, and agency. The Introduction critically engages with Anthony Giddens' understandings of ontological (in)security, in an effort to spur the revisiting, questioning, and, in some cases, leaving behind Giddens' assumptions in order to develop a more dynamic conception. In response, the first three contributions draw on resources in existentialist philosophy, especially Heidegger, Tillich, and Kierkegaard, to further unpack the relationship between anxiety and ontological (in)security. They do so by returning to the experiential moment of confronting existential anxiety, a moment that Giddens quickly closes down, to better grasp how existential anxiety resolves into an orientation to action. The final two essays, in comparison, bring anxiety ‘back in’ to locales where Giddens' theory occludes it: the unconscious and the international, thus arguing that emotional configurations other than fear are always possible.

Form and Substance in International Agreements

2005 ◽  
Vol 99 (3) ◽  
pp. 581-614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kal Raustiala
Keyword(s):  
International Agreements ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
The Status ◽  
Monitoring Behavior ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Range Of Variation

International agreements exhibit a wide range of variation. Many are negotiated as legally binding agreements, while others are expressly nonbinding. Some contain substantive obligations requiring deep, demanding policy changes; others demand little or simply ratify the status quo ante. Some specify institutions to monitor and sanction noncompliance; others create no review structure at all. Thus, there is considerable variation both in the form of international agreements—in their legal bindingness, as well as in the range of structural provisions for monitoring and addressing noncompliance—and in the substantive obligations they impose. This variation in form and substance raises several fundamental questions about the role of international agreements in world politics.’ Why do states differentiate commitments into those which are legally binding and those which are not? What relationship exists between legality and the substantive provisions of an accord, and between legality and structural provisions for monitoring behavior? What is the relationship between substantive obligations and monitoring provisions? Finally, what difference, if any, do these choices make as to the effectiveness of an agreement?

scholarly journals How to Influence Users’ Willingness to Explore the Use of Sports and Fitness Apps in China

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 7
Author(s):  
Lu Suo
Keyword(s):  
Online Survey ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Status Quo Bias ◽  
Perceived Need ◽  
Health Goals ◽  
Health Goal ◽  
Setting Theory ◽  
The Relationship

The aim of this paper is to investigate how inertia affects users' willingness to explore the use of sports and fitness apps under the influence of status quo bias, and to explore the role of health goals in the process of exploring use based on goal setting theory. The population in this research is Chinese users who have already installed or used a sports and fitness app on their mobile device. Through an online survey technique, we collected 449 valid questionnaires by convenience sampling method. The results confirm that inertia negatively influences the users’ willingness to explore the use of sports and fitness apps and that inertia negatively influences perceived need, which, in turn, reduces the willingness to explore the use of sports and fitness apps; Furthermore, this study also verified health goal positive moderate the relationship between inertia and perceived need, as well as the relationship inertia and users’ willingness to explore the use of sports and fitness apps, revealing that health goals can effectively adjust for the effects of status quo bias in mobile fitness exercise. This study provides useful suggestions for the development and operation of sports and fitness app enterprises to help them make suitable marketing strategies according to users' needs, thus promoting the long-term development of sports and fitness app enterprises.

Constructing Identity in “Glocal” Politics

1998 ◽  
Vol 15 (3) ◽  
pp. 81-106
Author(s):  
M. A. Muqtedar Khan
Keyword(s):  
Cold War ◽  
International Relations ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Socioeconomic Conditions ◽  
Post Cold War ◽  
Important Concept ◽  
Construction Of Identity ◽  
The World ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship

This paper seeks to understand the impact of current global politicaland socioeconomic conditions on the construction of identity. I advancean argument based on a two-step logic. First, I challenge the characterizationof current socioeconomic conditions as one of globalization bymarshaling arguments and evidence that strongly suggest that along withglobalization, there are simultaneous processes of localization proliferatingin the world today. I contend that current conditions are indicative ofthings far exceeding the scope of globalization and that they can bedescribed more accurately as ccglocalization.~H’2a ving established thisclaim, I show how the processes of glocalization affect the constructionof Muslim identity.Why do I explore the relationship between glocalization and identityconstruction? Because it is significant. Those conversant with current theoreticaldebates within the discipline of international relations’ are awarethat identity has emerged as a significant explanatory construct in internationalrelations theory in the post-Cold War era.4 In this article, I discussthe emergence of identity as an important concept in world politics.The contemporary field of international relations is defined by threephilosophically distinct research programs? rationalists: constructivists,’and interpretivists.’ The moot issue is essentially a search for the mostimportant variable that can help explain or understand the behavior ofinternational actors and subsequently explain the nature of world politicsin order to minimize war and maximize peace.Rationalists contend that actors are basically rational actors who seekthe maximization of their interests, interests being understood primarilyin material terms and often calculated by utility functions maximizinggiven preferences? Interpretivists include postmodernists, critical theorists,and feminists, all of whom argue that basically the extant worldpolitical praxis or discourses “constitute” international agents and therebydetermine their actions, even as they reproduce world politics by ...

scholarly journals The Authoritarian Dynamic During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Effects on Nationalism and Anti-Immigrant Sentiment

2021 ◽  
pp. 194855062097802
Author(s):  
Todd K. Hartman ◽  
Thomas V. A. Stocks ◽  
Ryan McKay ◽  
Jilly Gibson-Miller ◽  
Liat Levita ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Order ◽  
Situational Factors ◽  
Right Wing ◽  
Right Wing Authoritarianism ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
The Social ◽  
Political Outcomes ◽  
Nationally Representative ◽  
Using Data ◽  
The Relationship

Research has demonstrated that situational factors such as perceived threats to the social order activate latent authoritarianism. The deadly COVID-19 pandemic presents a rare opportunity to test whether existential threat stemming from an indiscriminate virus moderates the relationship between authoritarianism and political attitudes toward the nation and out-groups. Using data from two large nationally representative samples of adults in the United Kingdom ( N = 2,025) and Republic of Ireland ( N = 1,041) collected during the initial phases of strict lockdown measures in both countries, we find that the associations between right-wing authoritarianism (RWA) and (1) nationalism and (2) anti-immigrant attitudes are conditional on levels of perceived threat. As anxiety about the COVID-19 pandemic increases, so too does the effect of RWA on those political outcomes. Thus, it appears that existential threats to humanity from the COVID-19 pandemic moderate expressions of authoritarianism in society.

scholarly journals Climate bones of contention: How climate variability influences territorial, maritime, and river interstate conflicts

2021 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 132-150
Author(s):  
Cody J Schmidt ◽  
Bomi K Lee ◽  
Sara McLaughlin Mitchell
Keyword(s):  
Climate Variability ◽  
Climate Changes ◽  
Heat Waves ◽  
World Politics ◽  
Western Hemisphere ◽  
Intrastate Conflict ◽  
Short Term ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Interstate Conflicts ◽  
The Relationship

Many scholars examine the relationship between climate variability and intrastate conflict onset. While empirical findings in this literature are mixed, we know less about how climate changes increase the risks for conflicts between countries. This article studies climate variability using the issue approach to world politics. We examine whether climate variability influences the onset and militarization of interstate diplomatic conflicts and whether these effects are similar across issues that involve sovereignty claims for land (territory) or water (maritime, river). We focus on two theoretical mechanisms: scarcity ( abundance) and uncertainty. We measure these concepts empirically through climate deviation (e.g. droughts/floods, heat waves/cold spells) and climate volatility (greater short-term variance in precipitation/temperature). Analyses of issue claims in the Western Hemisphere and Europe (1901–2001) show that greater deviations and volatility in climate conditions increase risks for new diplomatic conflicts and militarization of ongoing issues and that climate change acts as a trigger for revisionist states.

scholarly journals Three doors anomaly, “should I stay, or should I go”: an artefactual field experiment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Morone ◽  
Rocco Caferra ◽  
Alessia Casamassima ◽  
Alessandro Cascavilla ◽  
Paola Tiranzoni
Keyword(s):  
Field Experiment ◽  
Experimental Evidence ◽  
Bayesian Updating ◽  
Anomalous Behavior ◽  
Status Quo ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Illusion Of Control ◽  
Optimal Decision ◽  
Status Quo Bias ◽  
The Impact

AbstractThis work aims to identify and quantify the biases behind the anomalous behavior of people when they deal with the Three Doors dilemma, which is a really simple but counterintuitive game. Carrying out an artefactual field experiment and proposing eight different treatments to isolate the anomalies, we provide new interesting experimental evidence on the reasons why subjects fail to take the optimal decision. According to the experimental results, we are able to quantify the size and the impact of three main biases that explain the anomalous behavior of participants: Bayesian updating, illusion of control and status quo bias.

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