SECUREU Opening Symposium

View the final program here.

Drawing out of the panel discussions, the following cross-cutting emerging themes were identified:

Turning Points

Securitization can be a dynamic process that is continuous and ongoing in the “shadow”. This process nevertheless is made salient or “revealed” through events or crises. It is therefore not that some objects/subjects become securitized, but that certain securitization processes become salient/revealed by events, while others remain irrelevant. This theme therefore calls for a dynamic and contingent understanding of securitization as an ongoing process. This theme also calls for analysis on the moments of change that can lead to the initiation of securitization, the intensification of securitization or a shift to desecuritization. The focus is on how and when options are weighted and choices made.

Power Structures

This theme embeds securitization in the power structures within which it takes place. It calls for examination of the link between diversity, or the historical management of diversity, and ontological security and securitization. This sub-theme gives rise to several questions: are more diverse societies more or less prone to securitization? How do different types of state-building and historical management of diversity (e.g. assimilation, accommodation, exclusion) impact societies’ need for ontological security or propensity to feel ontologically insecure, and therefore ultimately, a society’s propensity to securitize migrants or minorities. This sub-theme points to the link between securitization/ontological insecurity and the prevalent political culture, socio-economic context, institutions, and structural social relations in a society. Accordingly, this sub-theme focuses attention towards more historical and structural conditions to understand processes of securitization and particularly, ontological insecurity. Other considerations are the tensions between local and national processes and horizontal dynamics.

Identity and Ontological Security

This theme focuses on the securitization of identity and how conflicting ontological security for different actors links or clashes with securitization. The theme raises questions of when and how identity is legitimated. The spotlight is particularly on the agency and “actorness” of securitized minorities, their need for ontological security, the repertoires available to different actors, and the relationship between minorities’ ontological insecurity and state’s ontological security. In that vein, two prominent sub-themes can be highlighted: 1) counter-securitization and resistance by minorities and 2) the promotion of minority rights. There is a need for further research in investigating how the active contestation by minorities and the promotion of minority rights (including by minorities themselves) impact each side’s ontological security. Building on this, it was suggested that further research should develop concrete solutions for minorities and majorities to be able to enjoy ontological security simultaneously.

New Forms of “Othering”

This theme explores new forms of “othering” such as biometric borders, surveillance, algorithmic control, and also how groups can be divided into “us” and “them” by abstract concepts such as trustworthiness. A further new development to explore is vernacular securitization. The theme also includes “othering” by space and the links between spatial dimensions and spatial access and securitization. Further research could therefore focuses on how the association of certain zones/neighborhood/cities/countries/regions with danger or insecurity contribute to processes of securitization of the groups present in these zones.

Historical Traumas and Securitization, the Role of Memory in Insecurity

This theme brings emotions, memories, and historical experiences in the understanding of securitization processes. It emphasizes the importance of considering the role of emotions and the “primitive” instinct behind securitization. Processes of securitization can unfold from historical experiences of exclusion, subordination, and violence which create a collective trauma, which can in turn, be exploited to create the conditions for and justifying securitization. This theme points out to how historical traumas, and memories of abuses, suffering, and shame can also be securitized. While securitization has been prominently seen as a rational process, this theme emphasizes the emotional component of securitization and its links to memories and historical traumas. Securitization processes can have important historical roots, entrenched in collective memories of human suffering.