Concept Of Ontological Security Research Articles

Rethinking Material Articulations of "Television" in Times After TV

Vera Klocke and Maren Hartmann focus in this article on television today as a highly networked medium. The social practice of watching television is no longer bound to a specific device, but can take place on various devices, some of which only result in 'television' when they are brought together. In this article, these different material articulations that can accompany television are analysed through a domestication lense, with a particular emphasis on the concept of ontological security. It is argued that the material manifestations of routines are an important element in the development and maintenance of a household's ontological security and that it is precisely the linkages of the various devices that sustain this. Based on this analysis, we ask to what extent the concepts and categories of the domestication approach can be used, but also extended, in order to profitably apply them to the study of contemporary media households. It is argued that precisely the study of the 'old' medium of television, which is accompanied by a conceptual blurring, provides useful insights into current domestication processes of technology. The article draws on an ethnographic study in Berlin households, which used participant observation, thick description and visual methods to investigate the processes of media appropriation. This article argues that it is precisely this kind of time-intensive investigation that is necessary to capture the small things that are part of the material articulation of television today.

“From Attock to Cuttack and from Kashmir to Kanyakumari:” Understanding Akhand Bharat in terms of Ontological Security

With the rise of Hindu Nationalist-populist forces in India, much academic research has been generated on both the ideological contours within which the Hindu right operates (Anderson and Longkumer, 2019; Basu, 2017; Jafferlot, 1999; Nussbaum, 2009), and similarly, much commentary has been written on the organizational formidability and workings of the Hindu right-wing networks in India in one form or another (Pal, 2022; Minni, 2018; Thachil, 2014). This paper sets itself apart from these two types of literature in its attempt to understand the theoretical nature of the kind of idea it promotes in the form of metaphorical ‘goods’ that provide a sense of ontological security or security to the sense of self. The context in which this paper deals with the concept of ontological security is through the idea of Akhand Bharat (undivided or greater India) that Hindu Nationalist organizations sell as goods. ‘Goods’ here broadly can be considered as a commodity packed in the form of an idea that is promoted through various means.

A Typology of Ontological Insecurity Mechanisms: Russia's Military Engagement in Syria

Abstract Because of the novel explanations it generates for states’ security- and identity-related behavior, the concept of ontological security has been used increasingly in the International Relations (IR) literature in recent years. However, the abundance of interpretations of the concept means that it is often used in conflicting ways. To counter the risk of conceptual stretching and provide the foundation for a common research agenda, this article constructs a typology of ontological security mechanisms. Two dimensions of ontological insecurity are highlighted: the sources and the causes of anxiety. We argue that the source of anxiety can be reflexive, relational, or systemic, while the cause of anxiety can be either shame or discontinuity. These two dimensions produce six mechanisms of ontological insecurity that reflect how the concept is used in the contemporary ontological security literature in IR. By specifying these mechanisms, we argue that the typology offers IR scholars the ability to produce even more nuanced and fine-grained explanations of state behavior driven by ontological insecurity. Finally, to demonstrate the utility of this typology, the article provides an illustrative case study of Russia's engagement in the conflict in Syria in 2015–2017.

Defending the islands, defending the self: Taiwan, sovereignty and the origin of the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands dispute as ontological security-seeking

The dispute over the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands is generally analysed as a Sino-Japanese competition over material and strategic interests, regional preponderance, and nationalistic symbolism. Yet, such explanations cannot fully explain the endurance of the conflict and overlook its origin in the period leading up to the UN’s derecognition of Taiwan’s sovereignty in 1971. Drawing on the concept of ontological security, defined as ‘security of the self’, we contend that it was the looming loss of its sovereign self that prompted Taiwan (Republic of China, ROC) to assert itself as the true defender of Chinese interests by laying claim to the islands. This caused anxiety in China (People’s Republic of China, PRC), which had to follow suit in order to secure its own sovereign self. China thus inherited the conflict with Japan when it took over the ‘true China’ mantle upon its entry to the UN in 1971. Extant explanations overlook the important factor of inter-Chinese competition over sovereign selfhood. In developing this argument, the article makes two contributions. First, it draws attention to a much-overlooked early phase of the dispute, and shows how the same dynamics of ROC–PRC status competition continue to inform the dispute between China and Japan today. Second, it contributes to the literature on ontological security by conceptualising the ‘self’ as sovereign state personhood, thereby further clarifying the distinction between self and identity, and highlighting the relational effects of ontological security-seeking.

"We're Home Now": How a Rehousing Intervention Shapes the Mental Well-Being of Inuit Adults in Nunavut, Canada.

This study explores the ways in which a rehousing intervention shapes the mental well-being of Inuit adults living in Nunavut, Canada, where the prevalence of core housing need is four times the national average. More specifically, it compares the housing experiences of participants who were rehoused in a newly built public housing unit, to the experiences of participants on the public housing waitlist. The study was developed in collaboration with organizations based in Nunavut and Nunavik. Semi-structured interviews were transcribed, and a deductive-inductive thematic analysis was performed based on Gidden’s concept of ontological security, and Inuit-specific mental health conceptualization. Twenty-five Inuit adults participated (11 rehoused, 14 waitlist). Three themes were identified to describe how the subjective housing experiences of participants improved their mental well-being after rehousing: (1) refuge creation; (2) self-determination and increased control; (3) improved family dynamics and identity repair. Implicit to these themes are the contrasting housing experiences of participants on the waitlist. Construction initiatives that increase public housing stock and address gaps in the housing continuum across Inuit regions could promote well-being at a population level. However, larger socio-economic problems facing Inuit may hamper beneficial processes stemming from such interventions.

Locked down: Ontological security and the experience of COVID-19 while living in poor-quality housing.

The aim of the paper is to illustrate how the housing system in the United Kingdom (UK) has contributed to creating vulnerabilities during the COVID‐19 pandemic. Drawing on the concept of ontological security we look at how living with housing insecurity whilst enduring poor housing conditions has impacted the lives of those living in households. The paper draws on semi‐structured interviews with 50 residents and 8 housing professionals. The findings outline the grinding impact of the pandemic on the ontological security of residents and the coping strategies adopted by a wider range of households who are now increasingly vulnerable. A number of people went into lockdown in vulnerable situations, experiencing deep inequalities and living in poorly maintained homes. This has weakened the ontological security experienced by many households. These represent significant failings of the housing system and housing policy impacting on the health and wellbeing of a wider cohort of people creating additional vulnerabilities.

Ontological Security, Trauma and Violence, and the Protection of Women: Polygamy Among Minority Communities.

In this article, we examine the special challenges posed by the practice of polygamy to minority women, focusing on the ways that the state and the women confront the related experiences of violence and trauma associated with this practice. Based on analysis of both policy and interviews with women, we demonstrate the tension between the different mechanisms adopted by the state as opposed to those adopted by the women themselves. We suggest that the concept of ontological security is valuable for a deeper understanding of the range of state motivations in cases related to minority women, violence, and the right for protection. Our case study is the Bedouin community in Israel. We explore the relationship between individual and state-level conceptions of violence and trauma and the complex relationship between these two. We examine state discourses of ontological security through a gendered lens, as frameworks of belonging and mechanisms of exclusion.

The pandemic and homeless people in the Turin area: the level of housing adequacy shapes experiences and well-being

Purpose Considering the case study presented, the purpose of this paper is to analyse the impact of the pandemic in local services for homeless people. Drawing from the concept of ontological security, it will be discussed how different services’ levels of “housing adequacy” shaped remarkably different experiences of the pandemic for homeless people and social workers in terms of health protection and agency. Design/methodology/approach This paper focuses on a case study concerning homeless services for people during the COVID-19 pandemic in the metropolitan and suburban area of Turin, in Northern Italy. In-depth interviews with social workers and participant observation during online meetings of workers from the shelters constitute the empirical data that have been collected during the first wave of the pandemic in Italy. Findings According to the findings, the pandemic showed shelters as unsafe places that reduce homeless people’s decision power and separate them from the rest of the citizenship. Instead, Housing First projects emerged as imore inclusive and safermore inclusive and safer spaces, able to enhance people’s power over their own lives. The pandemic did not create emerging issues in the homeless services system or discontinuities: rather, it amplified pre-existing problematic aspects. Originality/value The case study presented provides empirical insights to recognise at the political and organisational level the importance of housing as a measure of individual and collective security, calling for an intervention to tackle homelessness in terms of housing policies rather than exclusively social and emergency treatment.

Structuring the Analysis of International Conflicts and Threats

This paper considers the theoretical and practical approaches to the analysis of pressing and sensitive issues of international life, such as conflicts and threats in international relations. Their current multipolar model, as well as the previous bipolar one, is described by an expansive range of historically developed and new hybrid conflicts occurring in Europe and almost all parts of the world, which in themselves pose serious regional and global threats or result from such exacerbations. In a modernised political-scientific epistemological key, this article raises the question of the need to isolate and analyse the current diversity of international challenges, threats, and conflicts and their typification and structuring. For this reason, it is proposed to achieve greater specificity in the analysis of conflict situations and in understanding the possibilities of obtaining a certain geopolitical result from their settlement, namely in the confrontation between Ukraine and Russia. Thematically, using examples from world and Ukrainian diplomatic practice, the study presents analytical approaches to the issue of international threats based on the theory of international relations and relevant research in expert and academic circles on war, peace, and conflict studies. The methods of application of the Copenhagen School of Securitisation Theory, the Normandy Index, the Concept of Ontological Security, etc. are defined as the most appropriate and promising among others. Conflict structuring models based on value approaches in five areas, and different levels of crisis and threat analysis are also considered. The latter is proposed to expand from three to four levels of analysis or targeted “dilution of 4 shelves” of a particular situation, with variable or combined choice of level of consideration and solution. An in-depth understanding of current conflicts and threats should stimulate international dialogue and contribute to a better understanding of international security and the search for solutions to the current conflicts

Thick Europe, ontological security and parochial Europe: the re-emergence of far-right extremism and terrorism after the refugee crisis of 2015

ABSTRACT This article examines the re-emergence of far-right extremism and terrorism as the adversary of European integration. The European Union (EU) becoming a grievance factor for far-right extremism and terror is qualitatively new. This article examines the emergence of this new actor in line with the changing four faces of the EU presented in this special issue, namely thin, thick, parochial and global. Paradoxically, the core argument of this article is that moves towards thick Europe have contributed to this development by way of addressing core fears in Europe after the migration/refugee crisis in 2015. The chronological discourse of the construction of the EU's identity has showed that since 2014, there has been a major shift regarding Europeans’ fears and anxieties. (In)security linked to the migration/refugee crisis has been widening the market for security, despite the contrasting fact that Europe has been thriving for the longest peace period since WWII. This article analyses the impacts of the refugee crisis on the mutation of the European perception of threats. It uses the concept of ontological security to understand how the anxiety and fear caused by the refugee crisis led to the shaping of the European self-identity crisis.

Emotion, vulnerability, ontology: operationalising ‘ontological security’ for qualitative environmental sociology

ABSTRACTEnvironmental sociologists have rarely engaged with the concept of ontological security. Further, those writers who have engaged with the concept have tended to focus predominately on themes of risk and disaster. In this paper I outline several critiques addressing the major methodological issues with Anthony Giddens’ (and others’) conceptualisation of ontological security and –offer my own operationalised model of ontological security for qualitative environmental inquiries. I illustrate this model ‘in action’ through a case study of individuals’ emotional and ontological relationships with forests in Tasmania, Australia. A site of significant environmental political history and conflict, the Tasmanian case study provides an ideal context through which to explore the historically and culturally situated process of ontological security. The paper closes with a discussion of how these insights reflect and extend three emerging and salient themes within environmental social sciences: emotion, temporality, and ontology. Concluding this discussion, this paper demonstrates that ontological security is a useful framework in rendering intelligible and articulable the abstract, emotional, and ontological aspects of human-nonhuman engagements.

The anxiety dilemma: Locating the Western Balkans in the age of anxiety

The paper seeks to locate the Western Balkans in the current age of anxiety. By using the concept of ontological security as its overarching theoretical frame, the paper first develops a concept of anxiety dilemma. The anxiety dilemma refers to a situation in which a social order that provides one group of people with a sense of ontological security is a perceived source of anxiety for the other group and vice versa. The paper proposes that such a dilemma characterizes the present age of anxiety. Trapped in this dilemma are the proponents and the contesters of the liberal (international) order and globalization, often referred to in the literature as cosmopolitans and communitarians. The paper argues that the Western Balkan countries occupy an ambivalent position in this anxiety dilemma. Their governments combine liberal-democratic justification with autocratic tendencies. The paper discusses how the Western Balkans came to occupy this position. It singles out four reasons: (1) the region's authoritarian legacy; (2) ethnonationalism coupled with stateand nation-building projects; (3) search for external legitimacy; and (4) the EU's abandonment of the inextricable link between peace and democracy. The case of the Western Balkans yields another important observation: that local anxiety dilemmas are nested in global anxiety dilemma. The paper makes two contributions. The first one is theoretical, and it consists of furthering the concept of ontological security such that it theorizes ontological security as a systemic inter-group phenomenon. The second contribution is analytical, and it consists in locating the Western Balkans in the ongoing struggles over globalization and the liberal (international) order.

The Concept of Ontological Security in International Political Discourse

The article studies “ontological” security concept. In a general sense the term depicts expectations of a state about its stable and predictable relations with counterparts. With the term gaining theoretical sway in constructivism since the 21st century, we argue, that it still lacks instrumental definition with fixed assumptions and variables. The analysis of ontological security is conducted in twofold manner. First, we overview the broad range of interpretations, demonstrate the absence of an instrumental definition of the concept and suggest some parameters of such a definition. Secondly, we study the ways how a state can gain ontological security. Three options of achieving ontological security are being presented: adaptation (assuming the role of ‘another’ from the external environment); change of rules (imposing its own role on the subject with whom the interaction occurs); and the breach of relations. At all these stages, the state tries either to adopt the norms and practices by which it interacts with the environment, or to redefine its position in ongoing relations with counterparties. We conclude by presenting a sought definition of the term and by arguing that the concept enhances the constructivist contribution to the IR theory since it allows to define the logic of states’ behavior in international arena. Thus, states seek to be socialized into an intersubjective reality and to define norms, practices and status through forging common and communicative knowledge with ‘other’. Otherwise, the state’s behavior could be irrational. Theory emphasizes the need to avoid situations of the ontological security dilemma: the state projects its own, mostly protective reality, which, however, does not provide it with ontological security from the counterparty and could potentially push for further escalation of crisis interactions.Authors declare the absence of conflict of interests.

The international model citizen and the Syrian war: Canadian identity from a civilian power perspective

Canadian foreign policy analysis has traditionally drawn heavily on the middle power concept. This paper proposes to look at Canadian foreign policy from a new angle: Using the concept of ontological security, it shows how “civilian power” elements such as multilateralism, institution building, and the rule of law, are connected to Canada’s identity and foreign policy development. The article systematically compares public statements and speeches by government officials regarding the Syrian war. The comparison is conducted against the backdrop of the governments’ foreign policy actions. On a theoretical level, the paper contributes to the discussion on Canadian identity and ontological security. Furthermore, it offers a comparison of the Syria policies of the Harper and the Trudeau governments, adding to the literature on differences and continuities between Conservative and Liberal Canadian foreign policy, as well as on empirical analyses of Canadian foreign policy and the Syrian war.

Mobility, Border Ethics, and the Challenge of Revanchist Identity Politics

Abstract The main objective of the essay is to argue that a powerful revanchist and self-referential narrative of authenticity and autonomy is influencing the securitization of mobility. Cultural nationalism, coupled with elements of a new sovereigntism that reifies national interests and unilateralism, is a direct challenge to globalist assumptions that privilege mobility and cosmopolitanism. Discussion begins with a consideration of securitization and the perceptual, socio-cultural, and attitudinal foundations of security. The concept of ontological security is particularly salient in this context, as it emphasizes aspects of national identity that are prone to radicalization as well as relates socio-political bordering processes to securitization. As recent events have made abundantly clear, democratic impulses co-exist with illiberal understandings of belonging, citizenship, and culture. This is manifested by political and social imaginaries of security that are based on what appears to be a reinvigorated cultural nationalism, and as a direct consequence, racial and ethnic autarchy. In contrast to the Nordic examples developed in the present collection, the case of Hungary is elaborated as a perhaps extreme example of revanchist identity politics that is impacting European societies more generally. In concluding, the essay outlines potential consequences of revanchist securitization which in several ways threaten the European Union as a political and multicultural community. Desecuritization will be suggested as an alternative; this is understood as a means of changing the ways in which mobility and migration are discursively framed, and contextually broadening debate on the significance of open borders for European Union.

A CONSTRUCTIVIST VISION OF SECURITY

In the article its author has attempted to systematize various concepts and ways of approaching the issue of security by representatives of political constructivism. Constructivism is a relatively young concept, which emerged as an alternative to liberalism and political realism. The article presents the main assumptions of the constructivist vision of security, the approach to security by representatives of conventional and critical constructivism, as well as the concept of ontological security developed by constructivists.

Securing the diasporic ‘self’ by travelling abroad: Taglit-Birthright and ontological security

ABSTRACTIn recent years, the literature on diaspora politics has focused primarily on why and when migrant or ethno-religious groups adopt a diasporic stance and mobilise on behalf of their homeland. The ability of a community to sustain a diasporic stance across generations is less explored and often assumed to be dependent on discrimination in the host country or events in the homeland. By contrast, this article focuses on internal dynamics of the Jewish-American community to explore the development of Taglit-Birthright – a free educational trip to Israel offered to young Jewish adults. Drawing on the concept of ontological security – security of identity and subjectivity – I argue that the decision to invest in such a costly and experimental programme was the result of two perceived threats to Jewish diasporic identity: the threat to the diasporic narrative and the threat to the relationship with the homeland. Evidence for this claim is generated through interpretation of internal documents, media reports, and secondary literature.

Ontological security, self-articulation and the securitization of identity

The concept of ontological security has made increasing headway within International Relations, in particular through its ability to offer alternative explanations of the forces underpinning security dilemmas and conflict in world politics. While welcoming the insights already provided by its application, this article argues that the concept’s use to date has been too much geared to questions of identity-related stability, with change viewed as disturbing and anxiety-inducing. In contrast, the article calls for a more open understanding that: (i) links ontological security to reflexivity and avoids collapsing together the concepts of self, identity and ontological security; (ii) avoids privileging securitization over desecuritization as a means for generating ontological security; and (iii) opens out the concept beyond a narrow concern with questions of conflict and the conduct of violence more towards the theorization of positive change.

Ontological Security and Private Car Use in Sydney, Australia

Successful promotion of alternative transport modes needs to be underpinned by better understandings of a seemingly cemented collective preference for private car use. This paper contributes to these understandings and proposes that automobility's dominance can be explained by a series of benefits intimately linked to the car. These benefits extend beyond those associated with utilitarian factors such as saving time. The concept of ontological security is used to propose that attachments to the private car are underpinned by an innate desire for predictability, autonomy and acceptance in modern lives increasingly characterised by insecurity. Empirical evidence on the journey to work in Australia's largest city, Sydney, is applied to examine the way mobility is practised and inform the paper's central proposition.

Buscando determinantes de la seguridad ontológica en la España de la crisis

El concepto de seguridad ontológica tiene un eco notable en la sociología actual para describir el estado emocional del hombre de la modernidad tardía. Sin embargo, el concepto creado por Giddens en los años ochenta se ha utilizado poco en la investigación empírica preocupada por cubrir diversas fuentes de riesgo o incertidumbre. En este trabajo, se propone una escala de seguridad ontológica a partir de tal articulación de fuentes de riesgo. Para ello, partimos de los resultados de una investigación centrada en la relación entre riesgo, incertidumbre y vulnerabilidad en el contexto de la crisis económica en España. Estos resultados se producen a partir de nueve grupos de discusión y una encuesta con cuestionario estandarizado aplicado telefónicamente a una muestra nacional de 2.408 personas mayores de 18 años. El trabajo se divide en tres campos principales. En el primero, se construye la escala a partir de los resultados de la aplicación de diferentes ítems presentes en el cuestionario utilizado. La segunda parte explora las relaciones de la escala obtenida con las variables más próximas a las dimensiones emocionales de los individuos. La tercera parte observa las variables que contribuyen a los cambios en la escala. Estas variables muestran la característica estructural de la seguridad ontológica.