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

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.

Instrumental variable analysis using offspring BMI in childhood as an indicator of parental BMI in relation to mortality

Childhood BMI shows associations with adult mortality, but these may be influenced by effects of ill health in childhood on BMI and later mortality. To avoid this, we used offspring childhood BMI as an instrumental variable (IV) for own BMI in relation to mortality and compared it with conventional associations of own childhood BMI and own mortality. We included 36,097 parent–offspring pairs with measured heights and weights from the Copenhagen School Health Records Register and register-based information on death. Hazard ratios (HR) were estimated using adjusted Cox regression models. For all-cause mortality, per zBMI at age 7 the conventional HR = 1.07 (95%CI: 1.04–1.09) in women and 1.02 (95%CI: 0.92–1.14) in men, whereas the IV HR = 1.23 (95%CI: 1.15–1.32) in women and 1.05 (95%CI: 0.94–1.17) in men. Per zBMI at age 13, the conventional HR = 1.11 (95%CI: 1.08–1.15) in women and 1.03 (95%CI: 0.99–1.06) in men, whereas the IV HR = 1.30 (95%CI: 1.19–1.42) in women and 1.15 (95%CI: 1.04–1.29) in men. Only conventional models showed indications of J-shaped associations. Our IV analyses suggest that there is a causal relationship between BMI and mortality that is positive at both high and low BMI values.

Catcalling awareness among Universitas Pertamina’ students from the perspective of Security Studies

This study investigates the dangers of catcalling, which is harmful to women. Catcalling is a form of street sexual harassment that has a negative impact on women's mental health. The goal of this study was to see how well Universitas Pertamina students understood the dangers of catcalling. Pertamina University was chosen as the subject of the study by the author because it is only five years old and has never conducted a survey on catcalling behavior. The author employs a hybrid “explanatory sequential design.”This method was used to collect statistical data from 401 respondents. The statistical data is intended to assess students' understanding of the catcalling phenomenon. The qualitative analysis of this study discusses in the security study using the Copenhagen School Security Study conceptual framework. According to the findings of this survey, one of the most common reasons for women to become victims of catcalling is that they were described as objects (63 percent). Furthermore, 47 percent of respondents understood what catcalling behavior entails. The remainder, or approximately 42 percent of respondents, agreed that catcalling is a bothersome activity. Meanwhile, 68.8 percent of respondents said the way women dressed triggered catcalling. Another 58.9 percent said patriarchal culture was the catalyst for this behavior. The author argues that Universitas Pertamina students already knows catcalling behavior. However, the authors conclude that universities must educate students on catcalling behavior, which stems from patriarchal culture, on a regular basis.

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

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.

Fear of Others: Processes of (De)Securitisation in Northern Ireland

Situated at the junction between the field of ethnic politics, security studies, and migration, this paper analyses processes of (de)securitisation in Northern Ireland. The country is characterised by its violent past, consociational power-sharing institutions, experience with periods of political instability, and the recent arrival of several thousand people from other EU and non-EU countries. As a case study, Northern Ireland epitomises the problems of divided societies and the challenges posed by the presence of competing nationalisms in multinational and ever more diversifying countries. This paper applies the concept of (de)securitisation to analyse the extent to which past conflicts and tensions have been overcome; uncovering who or what is perceived as a threat, according to which terms, and how this affects majority-minority relations. To conduct the analysis, I adopt the Copenhagen School understanding of securitisation as a speech act. I use a qualitative methodology, examining (de)securitising discourses that emerged in the party programmes of the main political forces which won seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly in 2017 and in previous elections since 1998. I look at the evolution and transformation of such discourses since the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 to today, bringing to light the different security narratives that characterise Northern Ireland concerning the divisions and relationship among its communities and the broader issue of diversity.

Securitization of the Troubled Afghan Peace Process and the Role of Pakistan

Following the 9/11 attacks, the national security policies — notably of the Western nations — have taken a fundamental shift towards viewing vulnerable and unstable states, such as Afghanistan, as security threats. The strategic interference of the United States and its allies, for state-building in Afghanistan, not only failed in achieving its intended outcomes but also brought untold suffering and severe repercussions to the Afghan people. The major powers involved in the post-9/11 war against terror in Afghanistan — particularly the United States — had to bear heavy costs in terms of capital, materials, and lives. Being a neighbor of Afghanistan and a responsible state committed to peace in the region, Pakistan has made genuine and consistent efforts to promote a peace process that is Afghan-owned and Afghan-led, in order to bring sustainable peace and stability to Afghanistan. Using the post 9/11 U.S. mission as an example, this article analyzes how the securitization of development has affected the peace process in Afghanistan. The securitization theory of the Copenhagen School is used as a basis to explain the dynamics of the peace process (led by the United States) with the Taliban.

Beyond symbolic policy making: The Copenhagen School, migration, and the marked-unmarked analogue

This article problematizes the securitization of migration through symbolic policy discourse. Policy as discourse is not innocent. It creates not only instrumental outcomes, but can also signal deeply ideological and profound, symbolic meanings. This study discusses Germany’s controversial ANKER Center policy as a form of such symbolic signaling. Distinguishing between negative and positive securitization, this article then brings into focus the non-linear, non-fixed, political, and social construction of these two forms of securitization in the context of migration. Framed in part by the author’s ongoing field work with migrant organizations and volunteer groups in southern Germany, this article draws specific attention to a discursive marked-unmarked asymmetry. It then applies the sociologists’ method of ‘marking everything’ as a strategy to ‘write against’ securitization’s negative logic—toward a positive, more inclusive migration agenda.

Cries of war: Securitization of fluid transnational identities during war (a comparative study of securitization of Chinese Indians and Japanese Americans)

Fluid transnational identities are an omnipresent reality in the contemporary world, but what happens when war becomes a reality or the threat of war is imminent in a State which contains fluid transnational identities? This article tries to explore these dynamics to determine if the threat from transnational identities is an actual threat during war or an act of an elite few, and what follows after the war, by comparing the experiences of Chinese Indians and Japanese Americans. The study heavily leans on securitization theory to explore the questions posed and elaborate on the situations when habeas corpus was denied thereby incarceration and internment as a practice were justified. The relationship between the transnational population and the State under the Copenhagen School is also further elaborated on.