The securitisation dilemma: legitimacy in securitisation studies

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe literature on securitisation provides surprisingly little clarification on the meaning of legitimacy and how it operates in the securitisation process. Scholars repeatedly employ the term, but seldom define it in the context of securitisation. This study seeks to contribute to critical security studies by developing a conceptual analysis of the meaning of legitimacy in the securitisation process and to explore what happens when legitimacy itself becomes the referent object of securitisation. Legitimacy is not exogenous to the securitisation process. Does that mean that the securitisation of legitimacy is always, by default, successful or can we find cases in which the securitisation of legitimacy though successful, results in the opposite effect of delegitimisation. This study suggests that the securitisation of legitimacy may result in the loss of legitimacy caused by a securitisation dilemma. The securitisation dilemma refers to actions taken by an actor to securitise a referent object, but result in an increased threat to that referent object. To illustrate this perverse outcome, I examine the Israeli response to the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Results indicate that while the BDS movement itself has not demonstrated effectiveness in delegitimising the Israeli state, the state’s actions in response to the movement, may have.