Complex Insecurity: Implications of a Sobering Metaphor: 1996 Presidential Address

Bobrow, Davis B.

doi:10.2307/2600886

Cited by 16 publications

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“…The same words may, of course, be used in different ways and in different contexts, and be received differently by different audiences. In the fields of security, therefore, the ‘choice of a metaphor carries with it implications about contents, causes, expectations, norms, and strategic choices’ (Bobrow, 1996: 436). Metaphors serve to shape discourse and become the premises on which decisions are made.…”

Section: Analogies and Metaphorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analogical reasoning and cyber security

Betz

Stevens

2013

Security Dialogue

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This article is an attempt to interrogate some of the predominant forms of analogical reasoning within current cyber-security discourse, with a view to clarifying their unstated premises, major strengths and, vitally, points of conceptual failure. It seeks to improve dialogue between and across the various epistemic communities involved with cyber-security policy. As we seek to adapt to the new security realities of the information age, it is incumbent upon scholars and strategists to address the benefits of connectivity, in all its dimensions, as much as the threats it presents. Current cyber-security discourse channels us into a winner-takes-all modality that is neither desirable nor necessary in the current strategic reality.

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Section: Analogies and Metaphorsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Analogical reasoning and cyber security

Betz

Stevens

2013

Security Dialogue

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“…If the Earth continues to be seen as a vastly complex and interactive meta-biome and the human body (or indeed any body, human or otherwise) is likewise treated as a micro-biome equivalent, it seems likely that the "Earth as patient" metaphor will only grow in cultural currency. As Bobrow (1996) argues, "[W]e have little choice but to live by metaphors. The key is to pick one that provides especially appropriate and rich insights" (p. 437).…”

Section: Geo-engineering Justified: From Theatre Of Operations To Operation Theatrementioning

confidence: 99%

The Digital Globe as Climatic Coming Attraction: From Theatrical Release to Theatre of War

Gurevitch

2013

Canadian Journal of Communication

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This article considers the politics of representation inherent in the emergence of the digital globe. It begins with a consideration of early Renaissance globes as separate and distinct cultural objects from the two-dimensional forms of cartography they followed. The article then considers the emergence of the digital globe as an object symptomatic of the multiple cultural factors that form its foundation. Crucially, beyond occidental perspectives that have structured many dominant cartographic accounts of the Earth since the Renaissance, this article argues that a multipolar environment of online digital globes is emerging to contest Western forms of representation that were intertwined with notions of technoscopic superiority during the twentieth century. Instead what is now emerging is a multiplicity of digital globes that function as spectacular theatrical platforms for different and diverse agencies.Cet article considère les politiques de représentation inhérentes à l’émergence du globe numérique. Il commence par un examen de globes de la Renaissance en tant qu’objets culturels séparés et distincts par rapport aux formes bidimensionnelles de la cartographie qui les ont précédés. Il considère ensuite l’émergence du globe numérique en tant qu’objet symptomatique des multiples facteurs culturels qui constituent ses origines. Surtout, au-delà des perspectives occidentales qui ont structuré de nombreux comptes rendus cartographiques prédominants de la Terre depuis la Renaissance, cet article soutient qu’un environnement multipolaire se développe pour les globes numériques en ligne afin de contester les formes occidentales de représentation inextricablement liées à des notions de supériorité téchnoscopique au cours du vingtième siècle. Ce qui émerge plutôt est une multiplicité de globes numériques qui fonctionnent comme des plateformes théâtrales spectaculaires pour des organismes divers et différents.

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“…Metaphors do not only facilitate communication: they can shape models of the world and modes of action (Lakoff and Johnson, 1980). This is particularly pertinent in the field of security, where, as Bobrow (1996: 436) contends, the ‘choice of metaphor carries with it implications about contents, causes, expectations, norms, and strategic choices’.…”

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confidence: 99%

The needle and the damage done: Of haystacks and anxious panopticons

Logan

2017

Big Data & Society

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How should we understand the surveillance state post Snowden? This paper is concerned with the relationship between increased surveillance capacity and state power. The paper begins by analysing two metaphors used in public post Snowden discourse to describe state surveillance practices: the haystack and the panopticon. It argues that these metaphors share a flawed common entailment regarding surveillance, knowledge and power which cannot accurately capture important aspects of state anxiety generated by mass surveillance in an age of big data. The paper shows that the nature of big data itself complicates the power attributed to mass surveillance states by these metaphors and those who use them. Relying heavily on Ezrahi's distinction between information and knowledge, the paper situates this argument concerning the state and anxiety borne of information overload in the context of literature that concerns the state and information management. Drawing primarily on James Scott's work on legibility, it argues that the big data born of mass surveillance problematises the concept of information as empowering the state. Instead, understanding mass surveillance in an age of big data requires understanding the relationship between the surveillance state and information in terms of anxiety as well as power.

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Complex Insecurity: Implications of a Sobering Metaphor: 1996 Presidential Address

Cited by 16 publications

References 0 publications

Analogical reasoning and cyber security

Analogical reasoning and cyber security

The Digital Globe as Climatic Coming Attraction: From Theatrical Release to Theatre of War

The needle and the damage done: Of haystacks and anxious panopticons

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