EU’ve Got to Be Kidding: Anxiety, Humour and Ontological Security

Brassett, James; Browning, C. H.; O’Dwyer, Muireann

doi:10.1080/13600826.2020.1828298

Cited by 18 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 47 publications

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“…57 This further strengthens the link between performativity and ontological security. What has in the past been termed 'coping mechanisms' 58 or 'ontological security-seeking practices' 59 often rests of states reworking decades of performative sedimentation in ways that appear natural. However, it can also be violent, as Butler notes: 'This is not buried identification that is left behind in a forgotten past, but an identification that must be levelled and buried again and again, the compulsive repudiation by which the subject incessantly sustains his/her boundary. '…”

Section: Critical Situations As An Analytical Windowmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cue Brexit: Performing Global Britain at the UN Security Council

Rogers

2023

Eur. j. of int. secur.

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The role of performance in ontological security seeking is underdeveloped, despite the fact that many elements of such behaviour – narratives, rituals, routinised meetings – carry a distinctive performative quality. Drawing on Butlerian performance theory, this article makes the case that performances are essential to re-establishing coherence and a sense of self following ontologically critical situations. The reproduction of the self, especially while directly addressing fundamental existential questions, is an important way to overcome critical situations. At the state level, this reproduction of self also includes a reproduction of the international system, a task which is best enacted in everyday diplomatic practice. To explore this theory, I use Brexit as an illustrative case study. Brexit was a moment of profound crisis for the United Kingdom (UK) and an ontologically critical situation. It forced the UK to reposition itself on the world stage and confront significant challenges to its self-understanding. In Westminster, these efforts centred on ‘Global Britain’ – a narrative shift that bridged the identity gap and provided a thin framework for foreign policy. At the same time, British diplomats were tasked with international realignment post-Brexit. In this way, everyday diplomatic practice became Brexit performances.

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Section: Critical Situations As An Analytical Windowmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cue Brexit: Performing Global Britain at the UN Security Council

Rogers

2023

Eur. j. of int. secur.

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“…One can detect characteristics of nations with colonial pasts in such sentiment. Particularly in the desire to replicate external patterns (Kalmar, 2022) and create a vicarious identity (Brassett et al, 2021) to a certain degree.…”

Section: Europe? Ok But Which?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Discoursive Region Building in Latvia: The Case for a Contemporary Identity Search

Djatkovica

2023

Alternatives: Global, Local, Political

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Three decades into the independence restoration of Latvia and the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the country has integrated well into the Western community. It is a member of the EU and NATO, the Schengen area, the eurozone, and, since recently, OECD. Turning Westwards, Latvia attempted to abolish the post-Soviet and enter the European spatiality above all to secure the country’s physical existence. But not less importantly, to redefine the collective understanding of the Self. The principal argument I make in this article is that countries with the Soviet past may seek their contemporary identity in self-attribution to the desired political regions. That is, embed their new identities in discursive regionalism. The example of Latvia showcases the argument. However, ambiguous discourses of the Latvian regional belonging persist in the national imaginary. The range varies from the post-Soviet and its milder alternative – Eastern European – to the Northern European and Baltic. The mixed regional affiliations result from inconsistencies in the region-building approach exercised by the political elite of Latvia. They stem from the country’s ontological security search in NATO and the EU accession aftermath and amid the war in Ukraine within the newly acquired regional identities contrasted with the vestiges of the Soviet past.

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“…One form of identity that can explain citizens' trust on the state is the vicarious one as they live through the experience and achievement of the main collective actor in their lives, i.e the state. Vicarious identification encourages the self to be embedded within a larger collective entity providing not just security but also "status, standing, and recognition" (Brassett, 2021). 4 Finally, emphasizing the formation of modern state, historical sociology reminds the "specific arrangement between state and society" in which the former functions as an "insurance" protecting its citizens against external threats and maintaining domestic well-being (Mabee, 2003).…”

Section: Unit Of Analysis Debate and Rethinking The State In Ontologi...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Demokratik Devleti Varlıksal Güvenlik Çalışmalarında Yeniden Düşünmek

2023

PAUSBED

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Since the ontological security studies began to contribute to the discipline of International Relations, the dichotomy between state and individual as the unit of analysis searching for ontological security has dominated the literature with an emphasis on conflicts as the empirical objects. Given the terminology offered by the ontological security studies, this paper aims firstly to rethink the state as the provider of anxiety and uncertainty and secondly to underline the role of democratic mechanisms under state’s control in the emergence of potential critical moments. The arguments presented in this direction are examined in the light of Brexit referendum and ontological insecurity of remain voters in Britain.

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EU’ve Got to Be Kidding: Anxiety, Humour and Ontological Security

Abstract: How to cite:Please refer to published version for the most recent bibliographic citation information. If a published version is known of, the repository item page linked to above, will contain details on accessing it.

Cited by 18 publications

References 47 publications

Cue Brexit: Performing Global Britain at the UN Security Council

Cue Brexit: Performing Global Britain at the UN Security Council

Discoursive Region Building in Latvia: The Case for a Contemporary Identity Search

Demokratik Devleti Varlıksal Güvenlik Çalışmalarında Yeniden Düşünmek

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