scholarly journals Semiotics of threats: Discourse on the vulnerability of the Estonian identity card

2019 ◽  
Vol 47 (1/2) ◽  
pp. 126-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Ventsel ◽  
Mari-Liis Madisson
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Basis ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Security Risk ◽  
Demarcation Line ◽  
Copenhagen School ◽  
Identity Card ◽  
Media Texts ◽  
Average Readers

This article analyses various e-threats that were expressed in media texts that focused on e-threat discourses concerning the Estonian identity card’s security risk in 2017. The discourse of cyberthreats contains strong and controversial meanings because the peculiarities of cyberspace remain intangible for average readers who do not possess expert knowledge regarding ICT. The wider aim of the paper is to suggest how the topic of e-threats could be given public coverage without fuelling irrational anxiety and unwarranted threat scenarios. Our theoretical basis combines the frameworks of the Copenhagen School of security studies and ideas of cultural semiotics. We explain the semiotic logic of phobophobia (i.e. the abstract concern with the devastating impacts of the collective feeling of fear) and the discourse of fear that is characterized by a significant reliance on analogies, drawing vague demarcation line between reference objects and the dominance of negative emotional tonality. Our study demonstrates that the main actors of threat and the consequences of the identity card’s security problems were associated with unknown hackers and the damaging of the reputation of Estonia as an e-state.

Zanieczyszczenie powietrza jako zagrożenie bezpieczeństwa zdrowotnego w Polsce – w świetle teorii sekurytyzacji

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-176
Author(s):  
Joanna Stryjek
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Scientific Debate ◽  
Copenhagen School ◽  
The Eu

Nowadays, air pollution constitutes one of the most serious threats to human health and life. Poland belongs to the group of countries with the highest level of air pollution in the EU and OECD. The scale of the threat posed by air pollution shows its importance when it comes to the health security of the Polish citizens. However, the ongoing (political and scientific) debate on health security in Poland often ignores the problem of air pollution. The aim of the article is to 1) assess the threat currently posed by air pollution to health security in Poland, 2) locate the threat in the area of health security, and 3) analyse the process of transferring the problem of air pollution from the sphere of politics to the area of security, in accordance with the theory of securitization, developed by the Copenhagen School of Security Studies. Qualitative analysis of documents together with the application of the theory of securitization show that, in Poland, the state has started to play the role of an actor securitizing air pollution as an existential threat. Nevertheless, this process is at an early stage, and its further success depends, inter alia, on decisions and possibilities related to taking extraordinary measures to eliminate the threat posed by air pollution.

scholarly journals Securitising Covid-19? The Politics of Global Health and the Limits of the Copenhagen School

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-257
Author(s):  
Daniel Edler Duarte ◽  
Marcelo M. Valença
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
Scientific Controversies ◽  
Copenhagen School ◽  
State Surveillance ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
The One

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked controversies over health security strategies adopted in different countries. The urge to curb the spread of the virus has supported policies to restrict mobility and to build up state surveillance, which might induce authoritarian forms of government. In this context, the Copenhagen School has offered an analytical repertoire that informs many analyses in the fields of critical security studies and global health. Accordingly, the securitisation of COVID-19 might be necessary to deal with the crisis, but it risks unfolding discriminatory practices and undemocratic regimes, with potentially enduring effects. In this article, we look into controversies over pandemic-control strategies to discuss the political and analytical limitations of securitisation theory. On the one hand, we demonstrate that the focus on moments of rupture and exception conceals security practices that unfold in ongoing institutional disputes and over the construction of legitimate knowledge about public health. On the other hand, we point out that securitisation theory hinders a genealogy of modern apparatuses of control and neglects violent forms of government which are manifested not in major disruptive acts, but in the everyday dynamics of unequal societies. We conclude by suggesting that an analysis of the bureaucratic disputes and scientific controversies that constitute health security knowledges and practices enables critical approaches to engage with the multiple – and, at times, mundane – processes in which (in)security is produced, circulated, and contested.

scholarly journals Securitización como supervivencia, securitización como actos del habla: crítica a la Escuela de Copenhague/ Securitization as Survival, Securitization as a Speech Act: A Critic to the Copenhagen School

2018 ◽  
pp. 58-69
Author(s):  
Michael Daniel Revelo
Keyword(s):  
Speech Act ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
Speech Act Theory ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Central Focus ◽  
Copenhagen School ◽  
Referent Object

El presente trabajo evalúa los postulados y la aplicación de la teoría de securitización (TS) de la Escuela de Copenhague —Ole Wæver, Barry Buzan y Jaap de Wilde — para indagar sobre aquellos cuestionamientos que posicionan a esta como una teoría conservadora dentro de los estudios de seguridad por adoptar y reforzar principios propios de los enfoques tradicionales. Con dicho fin, se examina cómo afecta a la TS adoptar las concepciones de la seguridad como supervivencia y la producción de la seguridad a través de procesos intersubjetivos de construcción de amenazas bajo la lógica de la teoría de los actos del habla y los roles y funciones determinados para agentes securitizadores y audiencias que privilegian las experiencias de un grupo en detrimento de otros. Con base en el análisis de estos postulados, este documento critica la metodología propuesta por esta escuela, misma que restringe el cambio del objeto de referencia y la ampliación de la agenda de seguridad. Abstract The present paper addresses how the theoretical framework of the securitisation theory, conceived by the Copenhagen School, embraces unique features of the traditional security studies. Its central focus is the assessment of the conceptions of security as survival embedded in the logic of the speech act theory, and the characterisation of the role endows to the securitising agents and the audience. By analysing those, this work criticises the methodology proposed by the Copenhagen School that restrains the deepening of the referent object and the broadening of the security agenda.

7. Critical Security Studies:

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Mutimer
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
Copenhagen School ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Framework ◽  
The Way

This chapter provides a partial history of the label ‘Critical Security Studies’ and the way it has developed and fragmented since the early 1990s. It considers the primary claims of the major divisions that have emerged within the literatures to which the label has been applied: constructivism, critical theory, and poststructuralism. It looks at the 1994 conference held at York University in Toronto entitled Strategies in Conflict: Critical Approaches to Security Studies, which spawned a book called Critical Security Studies: Concepts and Cases (1997b), and Security: A New Framework for Analysis (1998), which was published to serve as a relatively comprehensive statement of ‘securitization studies’, or the Copenhagen School. The chapter argues that Critical Security Studies needs to foster an ‘ethos of critique’ in either the study or refusal of security. Finally, it examines Ken Booth’s views on poststructuralism as part of a broad Critical Security Studies.

scholarly journals BLACK SEA SECURITY AND ASYMMETRIC MILITARY THREATS IN THE 21ST CENTURY: NEW TRENDS AND NEW CHALLENGES

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (72) ◽  
pp. 223-235
Author(s):  
Vakhtang MAISAIA
Keyword(s):  
Black Sea ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
International Terrorism ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Background Spectrum ◽  
Black Sea Region ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
Copenhagen School ◽  
The Impact

The Black Sea region is increasingly becoming a priority on the international agenda. In fact, a regional approach is emerging as actors understand that common problems need tobe addressed jointly. Nevertheless, cooperation efforts are hampered by a number of factors, such as uneven economic and political development within and among countries, nationalist forces, and longstanding animosities between regional players. In this context, it is imperative to foster sound policies aimed at strengthening dialogue and cooperation so as to contain and ultimately resolve conflicts with peaceful means. However, there is little policy-oriented research on the challenges and opportunities for cooperation in the Black Sea region. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of terrorism and its dangers towards the Black Sea region. The work also describes the significance of international terrorism and its general definitions. Besides, the result and findings are based on theoretical studies and assumptions and the result of the analysis of the "Case Study" of the Black Sea region. Case study examines how the Black Sea region influences the spread of terrorism and what threats it poses for this region. Furthermore, the aspects of what makes the region important on international arena are analyzed and the existent and potential security issues are examined, as well as strategicimportance of the region for the EU and NATO is analyzed even from academic framework –“Securitization” theory322. The theory is based on security studies conceptual background and the background spectrum includes: the Copenhagen School and Critical security studies as the type323.Keywords: Black Sea region, Copenhagen School, Critical security studies, Securitization,NATO, EU, Georgia’s national security

scholarly journals Automated Expert System Knowledge Base Development Method for Information Security Risk Analysis

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (6) ◽  
pp. 743-758 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donatas Vitkus ◽  
Žilvinas Steckevičius ◽  
Nikolaj Goranin ◽  
Diana Kalibatienė ◽  
Antanas Čenys
Keyword(s):  
Expert System ◽  
Information Security ◽  
Risk Analysis ◽  
Knowledge Base ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Management Decision ◽  
Problem Solution ◽  
Security Risk ◽  
Development Method ◽  
Information Security Risk

Information security risk analysis is a compulsory requirement both from the side of regulating documents and information security management decision making process. Some researchers propose using expert systems (ES) for process automation, but this approach requires the creation of a high-quality knowledge base. A knowledge base can be formed both from expert knowledge or information collected from other sources of information. The problem of such approach is that experts or good quality knowledge sources are expensive. In this paper we propose the problem solution by providing an automated ES knowledge base development method. The method proposed is novel since unlike other methods it does not integrate ontology directly but utilizes automated transformation of existing information security ontology elements into ES rules: The Web Ontology Rule Language (OWL RL) subset of ontology is segregated into Resource Description Framework (RDF) triplets, that are transformed into Rule Interchange Format (RIF); RIF rules are converted into Java Expert System Shell (JESS) knowledge base rules. The experiments performed have shown the principal method applicability. The created knowledge base was later verified by performing comparative risk analysis in a sample company.

scholarly journals The Securitization of Immigration in the European Union

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. 46-56
Author(s):  
Nafisa Abdulhamid
Keyword(s):  
European Union ◽  
Speech Acts ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
The European Union ◽  
Institutional Practices ◽  
Indirect Speech Acts ◽  
Muslim Immigrants ◽  
Copenhagen School ◽  
Cultural Racism

The European Union (EU) presents an intriguing case-study for examining the normative and empirical degree of the securitization of immigration in the post-9/11 context. The following paper uses the Copenhagen school of security studies to argue that in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks, the securitization of immigration (through direct and indirect elite speech acts) has legitimized exclusionary policies and practices, thereby constituting a “new (cultural) racism.” This new cultural racism acts as a justification against immigration. My argument will be presented in three parts. The first outlines how elite direct and indirect speech acts creates an “immigration-as-a-cultural-threat discourse” that constitutes a “new racism.” The second analyzes how the securitization of immigration discourse has been implemented through legal and institutional practices, including in the Convention Implementing the Schengen Agreement (CISA), the Dublin Convention, and various border security practices. The final section examines the significance of 9/11 in connecting perceived Muslim immigrants to terrorism, thus constructing a discourse that identifies immigration with a direct threat to European identity and social cohesion.

scholarly journals An overview of the Copenhagen school’s approach to security studies: constructing (in)security through performative power

2016 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 47-72
Author(s):  
Luiza-Maria Filimon
Keyword(s):  
Speech Acts ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Military Force ◽  
Copenhagen School ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
New Research ◽  
Explanatory Concept ◽  
And Control ◽  
New Framework ◽  
Performative Power

Security has generally posed a challenge to those who have attempted to reach an ideal, comprehensive and encompassing definition of the concept. Orthodox perspectives have mainly focused on the state as a “harbinger” of security that defends its territory and citizens against external enemies through the acquisition of military grade weapons. Neorealist theorist, Stephen Walt defines security as “the study of threat, use, and control of military force” (1991, 212). Since security is a seemingly self-explanatory concept, it has also been rather underdeveloped to the point that International Relations theorist Barry Buzan argues that before the ‘80s, “conceptual literature on security” was rather neglected if not, a sorely absent field of inquiry (1983, 3-4). Buzan himself, along with Ole Wæver and Jaap de Wilde, proposed a new research agenda for security as evidenced in the book: “Security: A New Framework for Analysis” (1997). These authors are regarded as the main representatives of what today we refer to as the Copenhagen School of Security Studies. The present article provides an analysis of the Copenhagen School’s “good practices” on security and securitization as speech acts (Mutimer 2016, 93) and intersubjective processes (de Graaf 2011, 11), in order to address the performative power behind the contemporaneous security architecture and the security practices of threat construction.

Identity and security: Buzan and the Copenhagen school

1996 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 81-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bill Mcsweeney
Keyword(s):  
Reference Point ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Peace And Conflict ◽  
Copenhagen School ◽  
Security Problem ◽  
Conflict Research

Since the publication in 1983 of the first edition of People, States and Fear, Barry Buzan's work has established itself—for European scholars, at least—as the canon and indispensable reference point for students of security. His book and the revisions of the second edition (1991) have been the stimulus for further exploration of the security problem at the Centre for Peace and Conflict Research in Copenhagen. Together with Buzan, the collaborators have produced several publications on the security theme, sufficiently interrelated to warrant the collective shorthand, the ‘Copenhagen school’ of security studies.

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