Speaker
Description
This paper broadens the research on the international agenda of Countering/Preventing Violent Extremism by putting it into conversation with critical research on countering hybrid threats. While both international security agendas differ in their identification of the origins of the respective threats and specific countermeasures, they share the focus on security threats stemming from the interplay of actions of malign actors present inside the social body and domestic social failures. Drawing on the theoretical research on social imaginaries and critical research on resilience, the paper traces the imaginaries underpinning these international agendas and highlights the rising interest in societal divisions, polarisations, marginalisation, and alienation as a source of social vulnerabilities. Such imaginary foregrounds the idea of a cohesive society as a precondition for societal resilience and thus security, while pointing to threats stemming from groups that might not be properly attached to the state body and the rest of the society. Due to their marginalisation and alienation, these might be swayed by hostile propaganda or extremist recruiters and thus potentially present a security threat to the rest of society. In conclusion, the paper points out a novel social security imaginary foregrounding various societal failures as well as social cohesion as a precondition of societal resilience and thus security.
| What discipline or branch of humanities or social sciences do you identify yourself with? | International Relations |
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| If you are submitting an Open Panel proposal, have you included all four abstracts in attachment? | No, I am submitting a Closed Panel abstract |
| Are you a PhD student or early-career researcher? | No |
