Resilience and (in)security: Practices, subjects, temporalities

2015 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-14 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myriam Dunn Cavelty ◽  
Mareile Kaufmann ◽  
Kristian Søby Kristensen
Keyword(s):  
The State ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Security Policies ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Political Practice ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Security Practices

Diverse, sometimes even contradictory concepts and practices of resilience have proliferated into a wide range of security policies. In introducing this special issue, we problematize and critically discuss how these forms of resilience change environments, create subjects, link temporalities, and redefine relations of security and insecurity. We show the increased attention – scholarly as well as political – given to resilience in recent times and provide a review of the state of critical security studies literature on resilience. We argue that to advance this discussion, resilience needs to be conceptualized and investigated in plural terms. We use temporalities and subjectivities as key analytical aspects to investigate the plural instantiations of resilience in actual political practice. These two issues – subjectivity and temporality – form the overall context for the special issue and are core themes for all the articles collected here.

scholarly journals The Embeddedness of Social Sciences and Economics in Research on Resources

Resources ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 15
Author(s):  
Juan Uribe-Toril ◽  
José Luis Ruiz-Real ◽  
Jaime de Pablo Valenciano
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
State Of The Art ◽  
Local Development ◽  
The State ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Continuous Review ◽  
The Past ◽  
Research Fields ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Knowledge Area

Sustainability, local development, and ecology are keywords that cover a wide range of research fields in both experimental and social sciences. The transversal nature of this knowledge area creates synergies but also divergences, making a continuous review of the existing literature necessary in order to facilitate research. There has been an increasing number of articles that have analyzed trends in the literature and the state-of-the-art in many subjects. In this Special Issue of Resources, the most prestigious researchers analyzed the past and future of Social Sciences in Resources from an economic, social, and environmental perspective.

Critical human security studies

2010 ◽  
Vol 36 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-94 ◽  
Author(s):  
EDWARD NEWMAN
Keyword(s):  
International Security ◽  
Security Analysis ◽  
Human Security ◽  
The State ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
External Threats ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Distinct Approach

AbstractFrom a critical security studies perspective – and non-traditional security studies more broadly – is the concept of human security something which should be taken seriously? Does human security have anything significant to offer security studies? Both human security and critical security studies challenge the state-centric orthodoxy of conventional international security, based upon military defence of territory against ‘external’ threats. Both also challenge neorealist scholarship, and involve broadening and deepening the security agenda. Yet critical security studies have not engaged substantively with human security as a distinct approach to non-traditional security. This article explores the relationship between human security and critical security studies and considers why human security arguments – which privilege the individual as the referent of security analysis and seek to directly influence policy in this regard – have not made a significant impact in critical security studies. The article suggests a number of ways in which critical and human security studies might engage. In particular, it suggests that human security scholarship must go beyond its (mostly) uncritical conceptual underpinnings if it is to make a lasting impact upon security studies, and this might be envisioned as Critical Human Security Studies (CHSS).

scholarly journals Countering terrorism and radicalisation: Securitising social policy?

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 163-179 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesco Ragazzi
Keyword(s):  
Social Policy ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Security Policies ◽  
Policy Actors ◽  
Counter Terrorism ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
The United Kingdom ◽  
Politics Of Religion ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
The Uk

While social and security policies have always overlapped in complex ways, recent developments in counter-terrorism policy suggest that Western European states, and the United Kingdom more specifically, are accelerating what can be termed the ‘securitisation of social policy’1 – namely, the increased submission of social policy actors and their practices to the logics of security and social control. With the PREVENT programme remaining highly controversial, what are the effects of these state practices? Has David Cameron’s project of ‘muscular liberalism’, aimed at integration and community cohesion, been enforced through counter-radicalisation policies? This themed issue examines preventative counter-terrorism policies in the UK and the politics of religion, ethnicity and race they enact. The relation between social policy and critical security studies is explored by an interdisciplinary group of scholars.

Public relations: Theorizing the contestation of security technology

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 531-546 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Monsees
Keyword(s):  
Public Relations ◽  
Political Institutions ◽  
John Dewey ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Security Technology ◽  
Vital Part ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
Security Practices ◽  
Do So ◽  
The Way

This article contributes to the emerging literature on publics within critical security studies. Its particular focus is on contestation in the context of diffuse security technology. Contemporary security practices are characterized by diffusion and dispersion. As a result, contestation of security technology is also dispersed and diffuse and requires an account of publics that is sensitive to this aspect. The article conceptualizes ‘multiple publics’ as a mode of fundamental contestation of established political institutions. In order to do so, it discusses previous approaches to sociotechnical controversies and material participation. As a result of this discussion, it becomes apparent that we need a concept of publics that does not reduce political contestation to a pre-existing set of institutions. I develop a notion of publicness that emphasizes the way in which publics are embedded in societal struggles. This is achieved by reading John Dewey as a theorist to whom contestation is a vital part of democracy. It becomes possible to understand contestation against diffuse security practices – such as surveillance – as forms of emerging publics, even though they might not feed back into governmental decisionmaking.

Security Practices and the Production of Center–Periphery Figurations in Statebuilding

2018 ◽  
Vol 43 (4) ◽  
pp. 190-206
Author(s):  
Thorsten Bonacker
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Research ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Postcolonial Studies ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Internal Colonialism ◽  
Specific Population ◽  
International Intervention ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
Security Practices ◽  
Center Periphery

In this article, I examine the role security plays in creating a socioterritorial order in statebuilding policies. I argue that security contributes to the creation of center–periphery asymmetries, for example, through the portrayal of the center as threatened by a dangerous periphery or the periphery as disloyal and untrustworthy. In particular, I explore how security practices work in two distinct center–periphery figurations: in internal colonization, where a specific population, located within a dominant power, is subordinated; and in international intervention, where a society is internationally ruled. The article incorporates the literature on internal colonialism and international intervention from a critical security studies perspective to show how security functions as a mode of governing by creating specific center–periphery figurations in statebuilding. The overall aim is to provide a new theoretical perspective by intertwining critical security and postcolonial studies and to stimulate empirical research on the function of security as a principle of socioterritorial ordering.

scholarly journals Surveillance under dispute: Conceptualising narrative legitimation politics

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Christopher Smith Ochoa ◽  
Frank Gadinger ◽  
Taylan Yildiz
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Reference Points ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Effect Change ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
The Us ◽  
Security Practices ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Pragmatic Sociology ◽  
Normative Consensus

Abstract Current debates about surveillance demonstrate the complexity of political controversies whose uncertainty and moral ambiguities render normative consensus difficult to achieve. The question of how to study political controversies remains a challenge for IR scholars. Critical security studies scholars have begun to examine political controversies around surveillance by exploring changing security practices in the everyday. Yet, (de)legitimation practices have hitherto not been the focus of analysis. Following recent practice-oriented research, we develop a conceptual framework based on the notion of ‘narrative legitimation politics’. We first introduce the concept of ‘tests’ from Boltanski's pragmatic sociology to categorise the discursive context and different moral reference points (truth, reality, existence). Second, we combine pragmatic sociology with narrative analysis to enable the study of dominant justificatory practices. Third, we develop the framework through a practice-oriented exploration of the Snowden controversy with a focus on the US and Germany. We identify distinct justificatory practices in each test format linked to narrative devices (for example, plots, roles, metaphors) whose fluid, contested dynamics have the potential to effect change. The framework is particularly relevant for IR scholars interested in legitimacy issues, the normativity of practices, and the power of narratives.

Ethics and Security

2010 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Papamichail ◽  
Anthony F. Lang
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
War And Peace ◽  
World War ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Greco Roman ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
International Political Theory ◽  
Security Practices ◽  
The Subject

The concept of security is central to the study of international relations (IR), yet it remains heavily contested, both in theory and in practice. In part, this is because the concept contains intractable tensions and contradictions. Nevertheless, or perhaps as a result of this, security—if understood as a state of being that is a function of war and peace—has been the subject of ethical reflection for millennia. Greco-Roman, Judeo-Christian, and Islamic traditions, among others, all have their own conceptions of how war and violence ought to be addressed. One of the more prominent ideas drawn from these debates is the concept of the just war, which emerged from the Christian tradition. It became an influential source of critical reflection upon both legal and practical dilemmas in international security, informing a wide range of debates around the world, and it has persisted at the heart of the field of Security Studies that emerged post-World War II. However, in the last couple of decades of the 20th century, changing notions of legitimate authority and broadened conceptions of conditions that cause harm and insecurity led to challenges to state-centrism and war-centrism in Security Studies. Issues such as global health security, counterterrorism, and humanitarian intervention have demonstrated the inherent tensions within security practices and demand novel ethical engagement. Approaching the issue of security from the perspective of international political theory (IPT) allows us to probe the ethical dimensions of security and ask how justice, authority, and security are linked and with what consequences.

scholarly journals Unfolding the Past, Proving the Present: Social Media Evidence in Terrorism Finance Court Cases

2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (4) ◽  
pp. 382-398 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tasniem Anwar
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Court Cases ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
Security Practices ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Media Objects ◽  
Evidence Collection ◽  
Terrorism Trials ◽  
Made In

Abstract During terrorism trials, social media activities such as tweeting, Facebook posts, and WhatsApp conversations have become an essential part of the evidence presented. Amidst the complexity of prosecuting crimes with limited possibilities for criminal investigations and evidence collection, social media interactions can provide valuable information to reconstruct events that occurred there-and-then, to prosecute in the here-and-now. This paper follows social media objects as evidentiary objects in different court judgments to research how security practices and knowledge interact with legal practices in the court room. I build on the notion of the folding object as described by Bruno Latour and Amade M'charek to research the practices and arguments of the judges through which they unfold some of the histories, interpretations, and politics inside the object as reliable evidence. This concept allows for an in-depth examination of how histories are entangled in the presentation of an evidentiary object and how these references to histories are made (in)visible during legal discussions on security and terrorism. The paper therefore contributes to the field of critical security studies by focusing on how security practices are mediated in the everyday legal settings of domestic court rooms.

scholarly journals Security in transition(s): The low-level security politics of electric vehicle range anxiety

2019 ◽  
Vol 50 (6) ◽  
pp. 547-563 ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes Kester
Keyword(s):  
Electric Vehicle ◽  
Electric Vehicles ◽  
Consumer Goods ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Low Level ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Security Practices ◽  
Range Anxiety ◽  
Novel Algorithm

By drawing on critical security studies in the context of a sociotechnical transition, this article calls for more attention to the presence and sometimes alternative use of mostly unobserved security practices in the materialization of everyday consumer goods and services. This call is illustrated through a discussion of the phenomenon of range anxiety and the intra-action between drivers of electric vehicles (EVs), designers, and algorithms that observe, estimate and nudge the remaining range of an EV. Inspired by Foucault and Barad, the range-anxiety discussion offers four alternative security insights. First, it supports an argument to include stress as an embodied instance of insecurity. Second, it draws attention to a security apparatus that is based on a constantly expanding assemblage around range estimates. Third, it shows how this apparatus rests on a novel algorithm that has a continuous instead of a binary output and is governed by a distributed sovereignty: where the driver simultaneously is the object of measurement, subject of governance for more efficient driving and the ultimate sovereign who decides on the trip. Lastly, the discussion highlights how range estimates not only mediate the materialization of EVs and their automobility but also (re)perform epistemological or ontological forms of uncertainty.

scholarly journals Security Traps and Discourses of Radicalization: Examining Surveillance Practices Targeting Muslims in Canada

2014 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 485-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeffrey Monaghan
Keyword(s):  
Working Group ◽  
War On Terror ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Access To Information ◽  
Security Governance ◽  
Counter Terrorism ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
Violent Extremism ◽  
Security Practices ◽  
The U.S

Security agencies in Canada have become increasingly anxious regarding the threat of domestic radicalization. Defined loosely as “the process of moving from moderate beliefs to extremist belief,” inter-agency security practices aim to categorize and surveil populations deemed at-risk of radicalization in Canada, particularly young Muslims. To detail surveillance efforts against domestic radicalization, this article uses the Access to Information Act (ATIA) to detail the work of Canada’s inter-agency Combating Violent Extremism Working Group (CVEWG). As a network of security governance actors across Canada, the CVEWG is comprised of almost 20 departments and agencies with broad areas of expertise (intelligence, defence, policing, border security, transportation, immigration, etc.). Contributing to critical security studies and scholarship on the sociology of surveillance, this article maps the contours and activities of the CVEWG and uses the ATIA to narrate the production and iteration of radicalization threats through Canadian security governance networks. Tracing the influence of other states – the U.S. and U.K., in particular – the article highlights how surveillance practices that target radicalization are disembedded from particular contexts and, instead, framed around abstractions of menacing Islam. By way of conclusion, it casts aspersions on the expansion of counter-terrorism resources towards combating violent extremism; raising questions about the dubious categories and motives in contemporary practices of the “war on terror.” 

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