Ontological security, circulations of affect, and the Arab Spring

Abstract

Ontological Security, Circulations of Affect, and the Arab SpringOntological security research in IR generally argues that agents pursue both physical security and a secure sense of self. However, insofar as this work focuses on agents' stabilizing routines, this article asks what may be gained by shifting the focus to the wider settings within which this occurs. What analytical purchase may be gained by re-focusing the study of ontological security not strictly on subjects, but on agents' broader affective environments? Drawing together insights from philosophy, cultural studies, and geography, the article contends that 'circulations of affect' can reinforce agents' sense of security within cognitively unstable environments that are typically viewed as inducing insecurity. In this sense, tracing trans-personal circulations of affect positions ontological security within the broader social processes out of which security-seeking subjects are formed. The empirical purchase of these concepts is illustrated through an analysis of articulations of security and subjectivity in the Arab Spring uprisings.

Brexit, existential anxiety and ontological (in)security

“…10-12) notes, helps individuals establish a sense of the nature of their salient environment, providing a cognitive framework through which everyday events, interactions and relationships can be comprehended, ordered and processed. In general, it is believed that maintaining stability and consistency in one's self-identity narratives is central to enhancing the sense of ontological security, whereas fractured, unclear or inconsistent biographical narratives may foster anxiety (Solomon 2017).…”

The role of emotions during the Arab Spring in Tunisia and Egypt in light of repertoires

“…Various parts of Egyptian society, in spite of class or geographical differences, assembled to voice their demands and emotions regarding their rights and liberties that were repressed under Mubarak. The momentum of events travelled quickly and easily across borders through a Pan-Arabist perspective focused on change in the domestic sphere (Lynch, 2012, p. 69;Solomon, 2018).…”

“…Considering that 'emotions in world politics' is an emerging field in the discipline of IR with open questions and gaps as Koschut (2017b, p. 1) contends, recent scholarly works paved the way for new analyses of emotions (Bially Mattern, 2011;Bleiker & Hutchison, 2008;Crawford, 2000;Fattah & Fierke, 2009;Hutchison, 2016;Hutchison & Bleiker, 2014;Koschut, 2017aKoschut, , 2017bKoschut et al, 2017;Solomon, 2018). It is worth to note that Crawford (2000), Mercer (2006Mercer ( , 2010, Bleiker and Hutchison (2008), Bially Mattern (2011) were among the first regarding conceptualization of emotions in world politics.…”

“…In IR and social movements studies, the Arab Spring, including the expansion of the revolts, has been studied through various perspectives. These perspectives are as follows; the role of social media (Axford, 2011;Dajani, 2012;Khondker, 2011;Lynch, 2014;Tufekci & Wilson, 2012), the analysis about the role of regional and international geopolitics with a particular focus on political and economic grievances (Hollis, 2012;Ryan, 2014;Solomon 2018) and rational frameworks of diffusion and mobilization of revolts in the Arab region inspired by various models of mobilizations in social movements studies including the general role of emotions in different theoretical perspectives looking at empirical examples (Aminzade & McAdam, 2001;Calhoun, 2001;Goodwin, Jasper, & Polletta, 2000Goodwin & Pfaff, 2001;Hale, 2013;Jasper, 1998;Kemper, 2001;McAdam, 1982;Patel, Valerie, & Sharon, 2014;Tilly, 1978;Walsh, 1981;Weyland, 2012). Various novel analyses have been assessed on insurrectional politics, cosmopolitan aspects of the Arab Spring, the concept of 'the Global Street', the impact of globalization on movements in the Arab region, women's role in the Arab Spring, and microfoundational analysis of emotions from a neurosciences perspective in the Arab Spring (Agathangelou & Soguk, 2011;Carreon & Moghadam, 2015;Moghadam, 2013;Pearlman, 2013;Sassen, 2011;Soguk, 2015).…”

Postcolonial bordering and ontological insecurities

“…8 However, the emphasis on postcolonial bordering also takes into account and develops the notion of ontological insecurity as not only referring to subjects and identities but also to the embodied transpersonal movements that exceed individual subjects and bind together collectives in ways that create conditions of possibility for both the crystallisation of postcolonial structures and for their contestation. 9 Hence, although much work on ontological (in)security has focused on subjects and identities, both of which will be addressed throughout this special issue, it is important to be aware of the postcolonial context that affects the constraints and possibilities within which insecurity prevails and security can be sought. If the subject and her memories, histories and symbols are already framed through postcolonial structures and practices, then we must take seriously the ways in which ideas, myths and memories are being (re)created through these symbolic imaginaries and how they affect not only imaginary nations but also the imagination of (in)secure futures.…”