Indian Ocean Listening Stations: Governmental Ears, Surveillance Acoustemologies, and the Maritime Silk Road

In this article, I examine the discourse surrounding “listening stations” (surveillance outposts) that the Indian government has built to counter Chinese infrastructural projects in the Indian Ocean. As surveillance technologies are placed on out-of-the-way islands and deep underwater, the ocean is discursively situated in the press and diplomatic circles as a site where the geopolitical and sonic ‘noise’ of the metropole is evaded in virtue of the seeming fidelity of the sea, thus garnering potential for the listening stations to reveal China’s true geopolitical intentions. Drawing on classic securitization theory, as well as writings in the anthropology of security and sound studies, I argue that the positioning of listening stations as sites defined by listening and protection from Chinese encroachment obfuscates how they function as geopolitical speech and an expansion of Indian power. I coin the term “surveillance acoustemology” to refer to the ways that India’s listening stations spatialize India’s projected influence and its ability to hear its Chinese rival across the Indian Ocean.

Securitization Theory or a Well Overlooked Old: On the Philosophical and Theoretical Premises and Origins of the Theory

More than 20 years have passed since B. Buzan, O. Wver and J. de Wilde published their Security: A New Framework for Analysis, which has become a classic in the discipline of security studies. Although Russian scholars increasingly attempt to use the securitization theorys conceptual apparatus in their research, the knowledge of the theory itself remains rather fragmentary. The overwhelming majority of existing papers refer to the so-called Copenhagen Schools (CS) intellectual heritage, while more comprehensive approaches and recent studies remain almost unknown among Russian scholars. The author attempts to fill this gap. This article is first in line of a series of studies, entirely devoted to the phenomenon of securitization: from the earliest milestones to the modern stage of development of the theory. The paper examines the theoretical and philosophical premises, as well as the ideas and assumptions of the securitization theory, first formulated by O. Wver in the late 1980s. The author refers to the original texts of the main figures of the CS: O. Wver and B. Buzan, conceptualizing the history of the concept of securitization and immersing the reader into the atmosphere of security studies field at the end of the 20th century. As a result, it becomes possible to determine the key elements of the early theory of securitization: security as a speech act, national security as a main focus of study, post-structural realism as a research agenda of O. Wver, and the idea of security as a negative meaning. The article concludes that despite the shortcomings of the early theory of securitization noted by many critics, it was based on a valuable and fruitful idea - an attempt to go beyond the notion of security as an absolute good or a metaphysical entity, which was typical of traditional and many alternative approaches to the definition of security.

A sociosemiotic interpretation of cultural heritage in UNESCO legal instruments: a corpus-based study

The past few decades have seen a plethora of interest in heritage studies in international law, as the legitimization of cultural heritage is a significant aspect of protecting the legacy of humanity’s collective memory, which is fully reflected in a series of international instruments on culture. This paper examines the meaning-making process of UNESCO legal documents on cultural heritage from a sociosemiotic perspective. The data for the corpus-based study were analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively by applying the securitization theory to heritage studies. Research findings reveal three significant shifts in cultural heritage, i.e., from property to heritage, from tangible to intangible, and from material-centered to human-centered, which embodies the harmonious coexistence of humanity and nature, a philosophical idea embedded in traditional Chinese culture. As noted, terms targeting cultural heritage in UNESCO international instruments are the sign vehicle, generally mediated and shaped by social values, cultural beliefs, and conventional wisdom, etc. as a part of the interpretant, making different categories of heritage meaningful and interpretable. Characterized by temporality and spatiality, cultural heritage is subject to multiple interpretations. The meaning-making of international instruments for consideration is a sociosemiotic operation that can be construed through contextual factors and a process of social negotiation. This paper argues that a sociosemiotic approach to heritage studies is conducive to explicating the construction and deconstruction of heritage as discursive practices while offering some implications for future research.

Stadi Derby and the Securitization of Urban Public Space

Stadi Derby is a local football match played in Helsinki, Finland appreciated for its atmosphere and excitement. Simultaneously, the negative characteristics connected to the international football fan culture have become familiar also to those living in the capital area and especially in the surroundings of the stadium. The threat of violence is visible e.g. in the media coverage reporting about the derby. All this has also effect on the way the city dwellers experience the urban public space. In our article, we ask what kind of discourses can be found concerning the relationship between Stadi Derby and the right to public space and what kind of consequences i.e. reactions these discourses create among those city dwellers not involved in the football culture. In order to understand the ways these events and the media coverage over them have effect on urban dwellers we apply securitization theory. We look for speech acts from the media coverage and analyse the ways people respond to these speech acts through material produced via Facebook and a focus group interview. The division between insiders and outsiders to the football culture is clear: The outsiders feel distress, even fear, in consequence of media materials.

Austria and the Global Compact on Migration: the ‘populist securitization’ of foreign policy

Bridging arguments between securitization theory and populist communication, this article shifts attention to the strategy of ‘populist securitization’. It argues that populist parties may seek to ‘securitize’ international political issues for the purpose of domestic political mobilization. Empirically, it demonstrates the relevance of populist securitization for the case of Austria’s foreign policy on the Global Compact on Migration during the coalition government (2017–2019) between the populist radical right Freedom Party (FPÖ) and the conservative People’s Party (ÖVP). The case study of the GCM elucidates the active interest populist parties like the FPÖ take in shaping foreign policy decisions that are close to their domestic political agenda. If successful, populist securitization can have a profound and sustained impact on the public perceptions of foreign policy issues and can create a sense of urgency about the need for an appropriate foreign policy response. In doing so, foreign policy becomes part of the game of domestic politics that can affect foreign policy decisions.

Counterterrorism and Immigration in Hungary

The European migration crisis beginning in 2014 served as a turning point in Hungarian politics where immigration issues effectively altered the nation’s security environment. The migratory routes as a pathway for illegal border crossings positioned Hungary on the frontline as a transit country for migrants seeking asylum in Western Europe. A critical analysis of Orbán's rhetoric and Hungary’s behavior in the realm of immigration and counterterrorism (CT) policy during and after the immigration crisis is relevant in understanding the state’s security environment. Anti-immigrant sentiments reflected in the population and Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's rhetoric aims to tie refugee migration to terrorist acitvity. Migrants were targeted as a risk to the traditional European identity and survival of the state with a specific emphasis on Muslim migration from the Middle East and North Africa. This study seeks to understand Hungary’s regional and global security role and how CT activity is used by the government to legitimize government actions, particularly on immigration via securitization theory from the Copenhagen School. Hungary has heightened its role on the international stage through transnational CT cooperation and capitalized on anti-immigrant sentiments through speech acts to further exercise its influence in border control and the international fight against global terrorism. By examining a total of 36 speeches presented by Orbán from 2015 to 2020, the study is able to examine how immigration issues were securitized to develop pathways for extraordinary actions and authoritarian reforms performed by securitizing actors.

Bridging the Gap: Securitizing Lack of Accessible Education in Indonesia During the Covid-19 Pandemic

The Global South continues to face new threats and challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The debate over health and economy continues and often leaves one aspect out of the equation: education. Especially in Southeast Asia, where regional and domestic disparity still lingers. Association of Southeast Asia Nations (ASEAN) acknowledged that the development gap remained one of the most crucial issues in the region. Using Wæver and Buzan’s securitization theory and Japanese approach of human security, the article tries to prove why the current state of education should be considered as a new non-traditional security threat and should be securitized by countries in the region. The article will use a qualitative method and hypothesizes that the inability for states to ensure quality education during the pandemic will affect the quality of the states’ human capital. The pandemic forces education institutions to rely on online learning. However, not every student has access towards required facilities such as, internet connection, gadgets, technologies, etc. Students in underdeveloped areas might struggle to participate in online classes, forcing them to be left behind. In the long-run, this will slow down Southeast Asian countries’ progress in tackling the development gap.

Role of Stigmatization in International Perception of the Triple Frontier Between Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay

Introduction. The article studies the Triple Frontier – a Tri-Border Area along the junction of Brazil, Argentina and Paraguay. The main aim is to analyze the reasons for its perception as an ‘outlaw territory’, the term generally associated with the terrorist threat. Methods and Materials. Stigmatization theory, symbolic interactionism and securitization theory serve as a theoretical and methodological basis for the research. The main sources for the analysis are official reports, communiques, interviews, and publications in leading periodicals. Analysis. The article analyzes the formation of international perception of the Triple Frontier since the mid1990s. It highlights objective and subjective grounds for the negative image that has been created to date; defines the mechanisms exploited by the United States to stigmatize the region and the reasons for selective securitization of threats emanating from there. According to the authors, the Triple Frontier is characterized by a complex set of relationships between multiple stakeholders. Their diverse and often contradictory interests form a convergent-divergent space which affects security of local residents, security of Latin American countries, and, to a certain extent, international security in general. Results. In the final part of the article the main scientific results obtained during the research are formulated, and possible ways of further development regarding this case are outlined. The authors conclude that to destigmatize the Triple Frontier it is necessary to rebrand it – to create a new, positive image, taking advantage of the geopolitical and geo-economic situation, as well as the availability of unique water resources.