Critical Approaches to Security: Securitization

Matti Jutila Helsinki, 19 March 2009

Today
Securitization Normal politics/extraordinary politics Speech acts of security Sociology of security
Audience Context Power

National security dynamics and the Bronze soldier

Securitization
Security as a speech act A claim that:
Theres an existential threat to some referent object Braking of rules that would normally bind is justified in order to save the referent

In principle anything can be securitized This move must be accepted by the relevant audience in order to have effects

security is not of interest as a sign that refers to something more real; the utterance itself is the act. By saying it, something is done (as in betting, giving a promise, naming a ship). By uttering security, a state-representative moves a particular development into a specific area, and thereby claims a special right to use whatever means are necessary to block it. (Wver, 1995: 55)

Politics of security
Non-political politicized securitized Securitization is a move that takes politics beyond normal rules of the game extraordinary politics
If we dont deal with this issue first, we (or the referent object) might not survive and therefore we cant do anything else in the future Issue should not be exposed to the normal haggling and bargaining of politics but should be dealt with decisively by top leaders

Tendency to go to the extreme General preference to normal politics and desecuritization

Move away from the threat-countermeasures sequence

Actors of securitization
Referent object
Having a demand on survival and currently threatened

Securitizing actor
Makes the argument about a threat to the referent

Audience
Who has to be convinced in order to have successful securitizing move

Functional actors
Who influence the dynamics of security

Speech act theory of security

Language as a picture language as a game "To say something, to act in saying something, to bring about something through acting in saying something" (Jrgen Habermas) Securitization as a complex speech act (Juha Vuori)
Claim: something is an existential threat Warn: the threat is realised if something is not done Request: we or someone must do something

Sociology of security
What explains the failure and success of securitizing moves? The speech act in itself is insufficient explanation Audience
Frame of reference, ability to grant or deny mandate

Context
Impact of the situation on the way the securitizing move is interpreted

Power
Position of the securitizing actor (who is allowed to speak security?)

Conclusions: securitization
Not only the search for the one word (to rule them all)
Social magic

The logic is more important: issue is presented as posing an existential threat to a referent object, which justifies emergency measures More detailed questions
what is the actual content of the speech act (claim, warn, request)? how are the referent and threats defined? the interaction between the securitizing actor and the audience? what explains the success or failure of securitization in particular context?

Dynamics of nationalism and securitization: The Bronze Soldier

Borders of nations and states should be congruent NN: the state is the state of and for the core nation MN: demands recognition, minority rights and/or autonomy HN: national homeland has the right and duty to protect compatriots abroad Dynamical relation Dynamics/clash of interpretations of history
Homeland nationalism (Russia) Nationalising nationalism (Estonia) Minority nationalism (Russian speakers)

The grand epic: Great Patriotic War

Victory over Nazis one of the key elements of Russian identity narratives Universal features: saving Europe or even the whole world from Fascism Particular features: Greatest sacrifice in the common war Not only official Soviet/Russian propaganda Significant also on personal/family level
Everyone has relatives who lost their lives in the war Connects also Russians outside Russia

The grand tragedy: Decades of occupation

In Estonia the WWII didnt end on 8/9 May 1945 but
In 1991 with the regaining of independence In 1994 with the withdrawal of Russian troops In 2004 when the country joined the EU and Nato

Particular tragedy: Suffering of Estonians under foregn occupation Hamartia (character flaw): passivity Changing narrative
Economic miracle, tiny tiger Freedom fighters - War of independence 1918-1919 - German army veterans of WWII

Clash over the Bronze Soldier

War of Monuments
Lihula 2004 Tallinn 2007

Russian epic and Estonian tragedy in direct confrontation Heros of one narrative are the villains of the other Rigid positions on both sides Marginalisation of Estonian Russianspeakers

Desecuritization: Comic conflict resolution

Third narrative form: Comedy Not necessarily a hilarious story of strange personalities and their comical sidekicks Questions established patterns of thinking and acting No clear division into good/evil, right/wrong Heroes can fail, misunderstand the intentions of others and opt for unconventional strategies This is what, according to Carl von Clausewitz, war is all about War as universal tragedy and particular comedy

The grand Comedy: The good soldier Palusalu and his fortunes in the Second World War
Kristjan Palusalu, double gold medalist from 1936 Berlin Olympics Deported during the first occupation Deserted both, labor camp and penal batallion Fled to Finland and returned to Estonia Imprisoned again in 1944, but released in 1946 Not a model Soviet citizen, but was the model of the Bronze Soldier complex events, hidden agendas and switchovers Narrating nations less nationalistically

Literature
Buzan, Barry; Wver, Ole & de Wilde, Jaap, 1998. Security: A New Framework for Analysis. Lynne Rinner. Wver, Ole, 1995. Securitization and Desecuritization, in Ronnie D. Lipschutz, ed., On Security. Columbia University Press, 46-86. Balzacq, Thierry, 2005. The Three Faces of Securitization: Political Agency, Audience and Context, European Journal of International Relations 11(2): 171201. Strizel, Holger, 2007. Towards a Theory of Securitization: Copenhagen and Beyond, EJIR 13(3): 35783. Vuori, Juha, 2008. Illocutionary Logic and Strands of Securitization: Applying the Theory of Securitization to the Study of Non-Democratic Political Orders, EJIR 14(1): 6599. Lehti, Marko, Matti Jutila & Markku Jokisipil, 2008. Never Ending Second World War: Public Performances of National Dignity and Drama of the Bronze Soldier, Journal of Baltic Studies 39(4). [if you have problems with the access to this article send me a mail and Ill send you the file]