CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2022
| Author | Valentinyi, Anna |
|---|---|
| Title | Taking Security out of Context |
| Summary | Second generation scholars on securitisation theory claim that articulations of security are shaped and constrained by the context in which they are uttered. While acknowledging the context-dependent nature of securitisation, this thesis considers how security utterances may, in turn, also transform their social environment. The central argument made here is that a successful case of securitisation may reconfigure existing understandings of security within a given context, which may influence how future narratives of threat are constructed. Thus, when studying securitisation, it is not enough to consider the role of context, but it is also important to look at how contextual factors have been shaped by previous securitising narratives. Furthermore, such a perspective opens up a new conceptualisation of context, wherein it is seen as a fluid and contested space that both informs and is informed by securitisation. This argument is illustrated by a case study of the securitisation of George Soros by the Hungarian government from 2015 onwards. Prior to Soros, the government had engaged in the securitisation of a variety of actors and phenomena, including the European Union and immigration. This thesis argues that these previous narratives served to create a context in which Soros could successfully be portrayed as an existential threat. These arguments demonstrated by a qualitative discourse analysis of selected speeches of Hungarian Prime Minister, Viktor Orbán. The insights gained from this study serve to complexify the role of context in securitisation and highlight the reciprocal relations between contextual factors and articulations of security. |
| Supervisor | Roe, Paul Richard |
| Department | International Relations MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2022/valentinyi_anna.pdf |
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