TRR 138:  Dynamics of Security. Processes of Securitization in historical perspective

• Subject Area: Humanities ; Social and Behavioural Sciences
• Term: since 2014
• Website: Homepage
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 227068724

Security is a central societal and political challenge and has once again proved its centrality in the course of the Corona pandemic. Whether it is in the fear of epidemics, but also of natural disasters or economic crises, or in light of the threat of warlike violence or the fear of the other and the unknown - security continues to be an absolute priority in politics. The SFB/TRR 138 investigates how discourses and practices of security have developed in historical and current political constellations and which social impact they have generated/produced. Based on this, the collaborative research work of the SFB/TRR aims to develop a conceptual foundation for the emerging field of historical security research by combining research perspectives from history and art history, social sciences, and law. The empirical studies of the SFB/TRR deliberately do not focus on a single time period, such as contemporary history, which has so far been at the forefront of security studies, but take a chronologically overarching, trans-epochal perspective.At the end of the first funding period, as a result of our engagement with debates in critical security studies, we presented an analytical framework for interdisciplinary research on dynamics of security in historical perspective. In the second funding period, the analytical framework was tested for its usefulness. At the same time, we have taken steps toward a theoretical and methodological advancement/refinement that points towards/ foregrounds an understanding of security with a complex construct of situativity at its core. Such an understanding brings into focus the situatedness of collectively shared identifications and interpretations of security problems (security heuristics) together with practices of dealing with them (security repertoires). On this basis, the theoretical considerations of a situation-centered understanding of securitisation will be further developed in the final phase. At the end of the funding period, we aim to deliver an innovative, empirically tested conceptual foundation for historical security research. The central contributions of the collaborative research work will be produced in various publications - such as an international handbook and an illustrated book - and in tailored formats of knowledge transfer.

• DFG Programme: CRC/Transregios

Current projects

• A01 - Hostages in the Early Modern Period (Project Heads Carl, Horst ;  Wenzel, Christian )
• A03 - Securitisation and dynastic marriage policy (Project Head Kampmann, Christoph )
• A04 - The Collectivisation of International Security through Institutionalisation Processes in International Law (Project Heads Marauhn, Thilo ;  Simon, Sven )
• A06 - Securitisation and Discourses on the Rights of Minorities in Central Europe during the in 19th and 20th century (Project Heads Bömelburg, Hans-Jürgen ;  Haslinger, Peter ;  Hein-Kircher, Heidi )
• B01 - Public peace – Renunciation of Violence and Federal Order in the Early Modern Period (Project Head Carl, Horst )
• B02 - Architectural and visual concepts of security: The street as place and opportunity for social, economic, and political insecurity (c. 1770 - c. 1900) (Project Heads Krause, Katharina ;  Schütte, Ulrich )
• B05 - (De)Securitisation of trusteeship administrations in political transitions (Project Head Bonacker, Thorsten )
• C01 - “Extended security”: Changes in Statehood since 1970 (‘After the Boom’) (Project Heads Brendel, Benjamin ;  Conze, Eckart ;  Wendland, Anna Veronika )
• C02 - Security, police and urban space. Security heuristics and security repertoires using the example of Frankfurt/Main and Munich (Project Heads Lenger, Friedrich ;  Mecking, Sabine )
• C05 - Financial infrastructures and geo-economic security (Project Heads Langenohl, Andreas ;  Westermeier, Carola )
• C06 - Foreign Trade Securitization. Economic Security Beyond the Nation State (Project Heads Kleinschmidt, Christian ;  Kleinöder, Nina )
• C08 - Security and Empire. Dynamics of Securitisation in the British Empire, 1780-1920 (Project Heads Stuchtey, Benedikt ;  Wiegeshoff, Andrea )
• C09 - Fear of Crime? Media Dramatisation of Criminality, its Prevention and Prosecution (Project Head Weckel, Ulrike )
• C10 - Between minority protection and securitsation (Project Head Kreide, Regina )
• C12 - The Pandemic Situation: Health Security and the Politics of Epidemiological Data (Project Heads Opitz, Sven ;  Wolff, Leon )
• MGK - Integrated Graduate School (Project Heads Conze, Eckart ;  Langenohl, Andreas )
• Z - Central Tasks (Project Heads Bonacker, Thorsten ;  Carl, Horst )

Completed projects

• A02 - Granting Security between Christians and Non-Christians, Latins and Non-Latins in the Crusader States (12th-14th Century) (Project Head Tebruck, Stefan )
• A05 - Security from Genocide. The Origins and Implementation of the International Proscription of Genocide (Project Heads Bömelburg, Hans-Jürgen ;  Conze, Eckart )
• B03 - Confessional Minorities as a Security Problem in the Early Modern Era (Project Heads Bömelburg, Hans-Jürgen ;  Kampmann, Christoph ;  Niggemann, Ulrich ;  Rohdewald, Stefan ;  Weiand, Kerstin )
• B04 - Security and the State in Europe, Russia, and the United States in the 19th Century (Project Head Dietze, Carola )
• B06 - Securitization and Security Export (Project Head Zimmermann, Hubert )
• B07 - 'Vindicta' (Vengeance resp. Punishment) as a Security Issue (Project Head Reinle, Christine )
• C03 - The „House“ as Security and Gender (In-)Security (Project Heads Krause, Katharina ;  Ruby, Sigrid ;  Schmidt-Voges, Inken )
• C07 - A Certain Sense for (Road) Safety (Project Head van Laak, Dirk )

• Applicant Institution: Philipps-Universität Marburg
• Co-Applicant Institution: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen
• Business and Industry: Herder-Institut für historische Ostmitteleuropaforschung; Institut der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft (HI)
• Spokespersons: Professor Dr. Thorsten Bonacker, since 1/2022; Professor Dr. Horst Carl, from 2/2018 until 12/2021; Professor Dr. Christoph Kampmann, until 2/2018