Numbers in global security governance

Baele, Stéphane; Balzacq, Thierry; Bourbeau, Philippe

doi:10.1017/eis.2017.9

Cited by 9 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 71 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Another source of migration politics relates to the uses of numbers as tools of governance. Quantitative measures standardize and depoliticize issues as they present a “credible” and neutral view to legislators (Baele et al, 2018). Meanwhile, metrics and their visualization can function as “alignment devices” (Bandola-Gill et al, 2021) that gather policymakers’ attention around an issue in an attempt to build consensus towards collective action.…”

Section: Discussion: the Politics Of Making Migrants And Migration Vi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The conventions and politics of migration data visualizations

Allen

2021

New Media & Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

What visual features characterize online migration data visualizations, and what do they suggest for the politics of representing migration and informing public attitudes? Audiences increasingly encounter quantitative information through visualization, especially in digital environments. Yet visualizations have political dimensions that manifest themselves through “conventions,” or shared symbols and practices conveying meaning. Using content analysis, I identify patterns of representation in a sample of 277 migration data visualizations scraped from Google Images. I find evidence of several conventions including appeals to objectivity and traceability as well as perspectives and units of analysis centered on states—particularly higher income migrant destinations. Then, by locating my analysis within the growing field of digital migration studies, I argue these conventions potentially shape public attitudes and understandings about migrants, and contribute to broader migration politics involving categorization and quantification that have relevance both on- and off-line.

show abstract

Section: Discussion: the Politics Of Making Migrants And Migration Vi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

The conventions and politics of migration data visualizations

Allen

2021

New Media & Society

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Critical Security History: (De)securitisation, ontological security, and insecure memories

Donnelly

Steele

2019

Eur j.of int. secur.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article makes a case for incorporating the concept of ‘Critical Security History’ (CSH) into security studies. While history plays a powerful role in a cornucopia of security stories, we contend that it often goes unnoticed in scholarly research and teaching. Against this backdrop, we present a detailed guide to study how history is told and enacted in non-linear ways. To do this, the article outlines how CSH can contribute to securitisation and ontological security studies. As shown, this lens casts a new light on the legacies of (de)securitisation processes and how they are commemorated. It also illustrates that ontological security studies have only begun to call into question the concept of historicity. Working through these observations, the article marshals insights from Halvard Leira's notion of ‘engaged historical amateurism’ to entice scholars interested in ‘doing’ CSH. While acknowledging that this research agenda is hard to achieve, our study of the 2012 Sarajevo Red Line project helps to illustrate the added value of trying to ‘do’ CSH in theory and in practice. We end with some reflections for future research and continued conversations.

show abstract

Whose balance? A constructivist approach to balance of power politics

Müller

Albert

2020

Eur. j. of int. secur.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Realist and rationalist approaches to balance of power politics underplay the degree to which balances are socially constructed. We develop a constructivist approach that accounts for the elusive and contentious nature of the balances that states seek to balance. The approach foregrounds contests over balance interpretations between states that shape whose conceptions and assessments underpin the making and remaking of balances. We argue that shifts in balancing practices are crucial to the dynamics of these contests. To substantiate this argument, we empirically study the contests over the conventional and theatre nuclear balances between East and West in the last two decades of the Cold War. The case study shows that the conventional and theatre nuclear arms control negotiations – that is, the partial shift from adversarial to associational balancing – initially fuelled and amplified both contests. At the same time, the arms control negotiations eventually resolved the contests through the development of shared understandings of the two balances, thus ending the adversarial balancing between East and West. Overall, we contribute to theory development on balance of power politics by highlighting the importance of contests over balance interpretations and by providing insights into the politics and dynamics that shape these contests.

show abstract

Numbers in global security governance

Cited by 9 publications

References 71 publications

The conventions and politics of migration data visualizations

The conventions and politics of migration data visualizations

Critical Security History: (De)securitisation, ontological security, and insecure memories

Whose balance? A constructivist approach to balance of power politics

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About