Intro to Security and Safety PDF

Lecture 1, 02/09: Case: Three Mile Island: o Why label it a security / safety case? ▪ Safety --> Nuclear accident – harm affects humans (directly / indirectly) o What caused the events at Three Mile Island? ▪ Technical malfunction and human error ▪ Cooling system broke down --> overheated reactor --> radiation released ▪ “China syndrome” o What do we know about the impact of the Three Mile Island incident? ▪ Evacuation of 5-mile radius & nuclear core was damaged ▪ --> no proof of lasting issues ▪ “Nuclear power died” ▪ Public impact – wanting to learn more ▪ Various – interrelated – impacts Natural environment Public health Public policy Nuclear industry Society Man made / Intentional vs accidental: - Man made – security (ex. Crime, terrorism, war) - Accidental – safety (ex. Earthquakes, nuclear meltdowns) Agendas: - citizen agendas - government agenda – European agenda on security; terrorism, organized crime, cyber crime --> cross boundary challenges - Security issues: why high on the agenda? o 1. Basic need ▪ Maslow’s hierarchy of needs ▪ o 2. Technological development ▪ New developments = new risks ▪ Complex systems lead to normal accidents --> can create crisis o 3. Globalization o 4. Politics ▪ Agenda setting --> security / safety often a priority that get budget Global Security Studies - Global as an all encompassing concept o not just about one thing --> whole range of issues, whole range of actors working for those issues, whole range of actors / organizations being threatened o universal field of study - Global as a geospatial concept o Global in scale ▪ Causes or effects of security issues experienced everywhere on the globe (ex. Global warming) o Global in reach ▪ Potential to spread to any place across the globe, but ends up in some specific region (ex. Conflict & migration) What is Security Studies? - Field of study; community of scholars whom we share theories, ideas, concepts, methods - Used to be about interstate war & military intervention - Has been studied for a very long time o First post war decade - ‘emerging phase’ ▪ Ww 1&2 triggered emergence of academic discipline ▪ Political science – international relations o During cold war - ‘the golden age’ ▪ Focus on war and military force in international relations o After cold war - ‘the decline’ ▪ Changing world – changing discipline - New forms of security threats; cyber security, terrorism, crime, genocide etc. o From state-centered to human-centered approaches o Triggering need for new theoretical and methodological approaches ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Article: Baldwin, D. A. (1995). Security studies and the end of the Cold War. Overview of Baldwin's Article David Baldwin's article examines the evolution of security studies within the framework of international relations, particularly considering the significant geopolitical shifts following the Cold War. He argues that the field has undergone substantial transformations, and he critiques the narrow focus on military threats that characterized much of the Cold War era. Key Phases of Security Studies Baldwin identifies three major phases in the development of security studies: 1. Interwar Period (1918-1939) a. Focus on Diplomacy: During this time, scholars and policymakers emphasized diplomatic solutions to prevent conflict. The League of Nations was an example of efforts to promote collective security. b. International Law and Democracy: There was a belief that democracy and international law could help maintain peace, reducing the reliance on military solutions. c. Limitations: This focus was challenged by the rise of totalitarian regimes, which ultimately led to World War II. 2. Post-World War II Era (1945-1955) a. Emergence of National Security: The devastation of World War II shifted attention to national security. The threat of nuclear weapons became a central concern, leading to a focus on military capabilities. b. Deterrence Theory: Scholars began to explore how states could deter aggression through military strength, particularly with the advent of nuclear weapons. This era was marked by the belief that a strong military could prevent war. c. Critique: Baldwin points out that while military threats were significant, this era often overlooked other factors that contribute to security, such as economic stability and political legitimacy. 3. Golden Age of Security Studies (1955-1965) a. Strategic Focus: This period is characterized by a deep dive into deterrence and the strategic implications of nuclear arsenals. Scholars like Thomas Schelling and Herman Kahn became prominent figures. b. Narrow Military Focus: Baldwin critiques this phase for being overly focused on military strategies and neglecting broader security concerns, such as social and economic issues. Decline of Traditional Security Studies As the Cold War progressed, Baldwin notes a decline in the singular focus on military threats: - Vietnam War and Domestic Issues: The Vietnam War brought about skepticism regarding military interventions, leading scholars to consider the implications of domestic politics on security. - Emerging Threats: The late 1970s and 1980s saw a shift towards recognizing non- traditional security threats, such as terrorism, economic instability, and environmental issues. Post-Cold War Challenges With the end of the Cold War, Baldwin argues that security studies must adapt to new realities: - Complex Security Environment: The dissolution of the Soviet Union and the rise of globalization introduced new security challenges that were not solely military in nature. - Need for Broader Frameworks: Baldwin suggests that security studies should incorporate a wider range of issues, including economic security, human security, and environmental concerns. Future Directions for Security Studies Baldwin concludes with several options for the future of the field: 1. Maintain the Status Quo: Continuing with traditional military-focused studies, which may not adequately address current challenges. 2. Modest Reforms: Incorporating economic and environmental factors into the analysis of security, recognizing their significance in the modern world. 3. Radical Reforms: A complete rethinking of security studies to include a broader array of threats, such as domestic instability, health crises, and transnational issues. Conclusion Baldwin's article serves as a critical reflection on the evolution of security studies and emphasizes the need for a more comprehensive understanding of security in the post-Cold War world. By advocating for a broader approach that includes both military and non-military dimensions, Baldwin encourages scholars and policymakers to rethink how they define and address security challenges in an increasingly complex global landscape. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article : Western, J. (2016). What Is Global in Global Security Studies? - Security studies; always been an ‘interdisciplinary enterprise’ --> focus on ‘phenomenon of war’ --> increasing understanding of military force and its role in international relations - Currently: SS has grown beyond the focus on guns, bombs... and issues of war, nuclear weapons... --> focuses on war and conflict but has changed from its forms - New trends of conflict and political violence; identity politics, nonstate actors, terrorism... o Shift from state to human-level security concerns - New forms of domestic level and international level prevention, mitigation, and response efforts (ex. Warning, preventive diplomacy..) - Concept of global security studies: o Global – geospatial empirical concept o Global security studies – references those issues where the causes / effects of a phenomenon are found across the globe (ex. Climate change, inequality..) o Broader scope and domain of the field of study – opens the space for addressing micro-level human security issues all the way to planetary threats - Global as geospatial concept: o Two forms; ▪ Global in scale --> worldwide in either cause or effect & effects all the globe (ex, climate change, nuclear war, global depression, gender and racial inequality) More connected in diverse and convoluted ways --> more difficult to diagnose and to develop governance structures to control or mitigate ▪ Global in reach --> potential to reach almost any part of the globe, but impact is usually local or regional (ex, civil war and conflict, terrorism, environmental degradation, demographic stress, migration) May have high degrees of complexity, but more localized causes and effects and require different set of governance structures to address them - Global security studies conceptualized all-encompassing or universal; o Direct results of a changing landscape for analysis; 2011 PSD-10 o Led to a change in state behavior o Expanding notion of security for analysis gives more insights into state behavior, into the use and utility of force and global politics o New & multiple conceptions of global = stronger & comprehensive understandings of various forms of security issues -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lecture 2, 04/09: - Science: o Specific, logical, structural --> systematic and logical approach o Body of knowledge - Science today is very young --> has changed dramatically in recent times - Different scientific disciplines; psych, political sciences... History of science; o Science – magic – religion (forms of wonder) o Wonder not just to wonder --> wonder related to urge to control o In science, scientists never refer to supernatural powers o Gradual disentanglement from the other forms of thinking - Early scientific discoveries: o Babylon (4000 B.C) ▪ Counting with tally marks ▪ Time system & calendar (60 minutes in hour, 24 hours in day...) ▪ Discovered constellations o Egypt (3500 B.C) ▪ Found out about seasons ▪ Rhythms and patterns ▪ Medical stuff --> lot of evidence that they were good at surgery o China (3000 B.C.) ▪ Their form of writing ▪ Chemistry --> gun power ▪ Magnetism --> compasses ▪ Periodic system --> five elements (early form of atomism) o India (3000 B.C.) ▪ Numbering system (arab numbers actually indian) ▪ Medicine, skilled in forms of surgery --> all discoveries about basic needs - Thales of Miletus o “Father of science” o Told to stop referring to supernatural powers ▪ Emphasized that we need to disregard the influence of gods ▪ Emphasized that we need to be methodical; but their logic and structure differs from our definition of logic and structure - Atomism (420 B.C.) o Atoms discovered right around this time; imagined that they were there o Idea that every solid or every liquid or every gas made up of atoms - Geometry (300 B.C.) o Euclides --> his ideas still used in mathematics - Astronomy (150 B.C.) o Mapped all planets; earth was in the center - Roman empire o Not much focus on science; culture, arts... - Prophet Muhammad (Middle East) o Culture of learning --> Islam o Scholars; studied philosophers, numbers etc. o Borrowed number systems from India --> arabic numbers (indian numbers) o Were storekeepers of western European history o Huge contribution to medicine o Mapping the stars 1. Backward looking: between 300 and 1100 not much progress was made in Europe 2. Religion: mostly focused on studying the Bible and religion, mostly religious scholars / monks studying the Bible, finding logical proofs of finding existence of God; when travelled to Middle East, started translating scientific texts – did not align with the Bible 3. Universities: after 1100, discovery of scientific work becomes more important, universities become established --> could study 4 different things; law, theology, medicine, the arts (the rest) - Renaissance (+- 1450-1600) o Art, literature, architecture o Emphasize the focus on human beings - Age of discovery (+-1450-1750) o Traveling the globe, colonization, international trade o Made maps, discovering species (animals & plants) o Finding economic ties and taking over other parts of the world - Scientific revolution (+-1500-1800) o New scientific & technological discoveries o Wondering about misalignment in scientific texts and bible o Universal in their studies; studied broad range of topics Bacon (16th C.); - One of the fathers of modern science; believed that science had major contributions to make to society & one of the advisors to the British Queen - Emphasized that as a society the Queen and the parliament should promote science - Rasing questions of what science really is; what is a good scientific discovery? o Method of induction --> importance of empirical research o Induction vs deduction; deduction you start with the research, inductive is the reverse; start from the observation - “knowledge is power” Descartes (17th C) - Most important contributions in philosophy - “I think therefore I am”; thought experiment --> how do we even know anything? - Changed worldviews; can rely on the fact that he exists –> human beings the cornerstone of science o Trying to understand human brains, behavior... Takeaways: - History of science is quite long journey from general knowledge to specialist knowledge; to this day we see that sciences are being divided into more specializations - The story of the gradual disentanglement of magical thinking to scientific thinking; no supernatural powers - New methods to study science - Role of technology; with technology we could find what is going on; technology hard requirement to do forms of science; new technology go hand in hand with new sciences; means to do scientific research Three branches of science; - Natural sciences; study of the natural world; understanding and explaining natural phenomena - Social sciences; understanding behavior of human beings; psychology, sociology, political science... --> activities human beings undertake together – to understand the behavior of humans and to discover laws of human nature to make predictions - Humanities; study the products of the human; for example, languages and literature --> humanities scholars do not go out to discover new laws etc, but to understand what thrives human beings, trying to draw a bigger picture how the humans are developing over time; big role of history Worldviews: 1. Primary questions 2. ‘reality’ of the object 3. Things, groups, ideas SLIDES!! The natural sciences: - Interested in how things work; make predictions and explanations of natural phenomena - Study things through controlled experiments (under specific conditions); causal relationships The social sciences: - Interested in prediction and explanation of human behaviors and psychological states - Through behaviors & verbal statements; gathered under somewhat controlled conditions Humanities: - Interested in understanding human ideas, expressions and experiences, and the meanings humans ascribe to them - Through written texts, artefacts, human behavior studied under conditions of minimal control Consequences of worldviews; SLIDES! 1. Goal & value of science a. Predict? Explain? Understand? Change? 2. Impact a. Can/should science change the world? Descriptive, predictive b. Social sciences: does not always have impact 3. Reality a. ‘Out there’ vs. Socially constructed ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article: Hunt, E.F. & Colander, D.C. (2011) Social Science: An Introduction to the Study of Society, Pearson Education, Boston. Chapter 1. - In notebook --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article: Berg, B. van den, Prins, R.S. (2021) ’ Exploring, Understanding and Doing Interdisciplinary Education. A three -step approach to guide lecturers and students through interdisciplinary analysis of complex security challenges. - Contemporary public problems: - Contemporary security challenges: - ‘Explore understand and do’ - ‘EUD’: o teaching approach to facilitate interdisciplinary teaching and learning about security challenges o Helps students design and carry out their academic endeavors in an interdisciplinary manner --> actively engaging in a three-step process of academic inquiry o Relies heavily on case-based learning: choosing a real-life security case & assessing it by following EUD and basic steps of interdisciplinary analysis o Successive steps of EUD --> facilitates analysis of complex cases ▪ 1. Exploring crucial events, actors and context (E) ▪ 2. Making an informed selection of theoretical insights and research methods from a wide variety of academic disciplines and apply them to an empirical case (U) ▪ 3. Leading to an integrated and interdisciplinary analysis of causes, impact and solutions (D) - Security challenges = wicked & interconnected --> calls for interdisciplinary approach o Wicked: multiple, interlinked and changing causes because stakeholders disagree about the most appropriate solution and because addressing them means spending scarce resources and impacting the lives of human beings o Interconnected: may have global reach or global impact – particular security challenge may be strongly connected, even if spread across the globe --> multi- layered and cross both state and institutional boundaries - Interdisciplinary approach: only when insights and methods present in various academic disciplines are selected and merged, one hopes to gain a better understanding of causes, impact and solutions to modern day security challenges - Academic inquiry: process of assessing real life phenomena through the lenses of academic disciplines providing theories, concepts and methods to generate insights and build knowledge o Determines what kind of analysis one undertakes; mono-, multi or interdisciplinary ▪ Interdisciplinarity for SS = “the capacity to integrate knowledge of two or more disciplines to produce a cognitive advancement in ways that would have been impossible or unlikely through single disciplinary means” ▪ Monodisciplinary: adopting a single discipline and applying that to study a particular part of the natural, social or cultural world ▪ Multidisciplinary: combine tools from various disciplines and use them alongside each other - 10 academic disciplines relevant for studying contemporary security challenges central to SS: providing analytical descriptions (history, psych), normative prescriptions (political science, IR) and more domain specific theories, concepts and methods (economics, criminology) - Interdisciplinary analysis: o Select a set of relevant disciplines --> to answer a particular research question about the case o Choose relevant tools (theories, concepts and research methods) --> helps to understand and assess elements of a real-life phenomenon o Tools should be applied to the case --> need of background information about the case The article “Exploring, Understanding and Doing Interdisciplinary Education. A three -step approach to guide lecturers and students through interdisciplinary analysis of complex security challenges” written by Van Den Berg & Prins (2021) introduces a new teaching approach called ‘Explore, Understand and Do’ (EUD). This teaching approach was created to facilitate interdisciplinary teaching and learning in the context of contemporary security challenges. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lecture 3, 09/09: - 3 different groups of social sciences o Analytical descriptive ▪ Understand how human cultures work, how human minds work... and analyze ▪ Anthropology, psychology, sociology, cultural studies, geography o Normative descriptive ▪ International relations, law, public administration, political science, criminology ▪ Also analyze and understand but seek to influence policy makers --> pass judgment on social phenomena and give suggestions how to improve ▪ Come out in the end with a new norm --> benefitting social sciences o Domain-specific ▪ Educational science, media & communication, economics, environmental science, management & organization science ▪ Only interested in their domain ▪ Analytical or normative? --> can be both Which disciplines matter for SS? - Not just doing social sciences, but a little bit of history, psychology, computer science... o Analytical: gives us broad understanding what safety and security are, help us understand how societies and groups live with and respond to safety and security o Normative: IR, political science, law... --> seek to understand which elements in society plays a role in shaping security and safety, make suggestions for policies, regulations, laws ▪ how can we make the world safer and secure o Domain-specific: making choices --> what is important Analytical descriptive: - Sociology: study of behavior and actions of human beings in relation to other human beings –> social organization o Order, disorder, change o Interested in long-term changes: Social stratification, social mobility, race, gender, (in)equality o Sociology & security; ▪ Helps us understand why societies feel that safety and security are relevant? Internally & externally ▪ Helps us peel off questions like: What is the societal meaning of security and safety? How is (in)security generated in/between social groups? Social stratification and security: who is secure? Who is not? How is security divided? Normative descriptive: - Public administration: o Understand how governments work and rule --> what do they do to help society go forward o Most interested in efficiency, technology, impact; ▪ Efficiency: what the government does is effective --> policy making & implementation o Public administration & security: ▪ How governments seek to provide safety & security to society –> safety & security are the core responsibilities of the state ▪ How does the government organize and provide security? Which government actors and levels are involved? Which power relations are involved in governing security, both nationally and internationally? - Law: o Crime, order, justice o Law is the science that focuses on maintaining social order o Consists of; state institutions, conflict, law breaking, crime, rights & liberties ▪ Helps us to create rules but also helps policy makers, law makers what they should do o Law & security: ▪ How do we protect citizens against insecurity? How do we protect private parties, public parties and the state? Which rights and freedoms increase/decrease security? What are their boundaries? ▪ Surveillance vs privacy --> finding balance between them Domain-specific: - Economics: o Balancing interests and making decisions --> how people make choices o Markets, decision-making, incentives o Economics & security; ▪ Is the government solely responsible for security & safety? ▪ Which role do/can markets play in creating & solving security challenges? Which incentives can be used to increase security for citizens and companies? - Philosophy o No definite answers o Ontology (what’s real), epistemology (how do we know what we know), ethics o Philosophy & security: ▪ What is security? A goal, a way of being, a basic right, a requirement ▪ What is safety? ▪ What is the relationship or commonality or difference between safety & security? How do national and individual security relate? - Computer science o Automation, smart systems, human-computer interaction o Digital technologies and technological innovations have tremendous impact on our security & safety o Computer science & security; ▪ What is the impact of new technologies on (personal, group & national) security? How does security change due to the rise of new technologies? ▪ Risk management ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article: Schäfer (2013) - The Concept of Security - Security o an ‘essentially contested concept’ -- no consensus exists o not an independent concept – always related to individual or societal value systems - Realist theory of IR o Security is the dominant concern for state – security achieved once threats to security are prevented or at least managed - Social constructivism o Perceives security as resulting from the interactions of various actors – social values & identities shaping the relations - Distinction between security in an ‘objective sense’ (absence of threats) and in ‘subjective sense’ (absence of fear) --> security achieved once both components exist - ‘Common security’ approach o “International security must rest on a commitment to joint survival rather than on the threat of mutual destruction” - Traditional goal o To defend national sovereignty in terms of territory, people, and the system of government Human security - Moves the focus away from states and towards individuals o Emphasizes human rights, safety from violence, and sustainable development - Human Development Report (UNDP) - Human security - “a necessary but not sufficient precondition” for human development - 7 dimensions of human security o Economic security o Food security o Health security o Environmental security o Personal security o Community security o Political security - 3 pillars of human security o Freedom from fear o Freedom from want o Freedom of future generations to inherit a healthy environment ▪ Need for 4th: freedom from hazard impact - Human Security Network (HSN) -- to promote a human security perspective National security and human security are interlinked - Example: outwardly aggressive and inwardly repressive regimes can be major source of human insecurity - Example: predicted climate stresses on livelihood systems may lead to upheavals for those already vulnerable and incapable of adapting Threat: - Early definition “capability coupled with intent” o --> mainly focuses on military capabilities - Conception of threat changed o Threat requires an element that is not controllable and raises the possibility of destroying and actor’s key value or commodity - Since 1990s --> threat has been also defined as referring to the dangers due to the manifold destructive potential of the environment and its global consequences - The UN o Widening concept of security by identifying new security threats; poverty, infectious disease and environmental degradation, and war and violence within states Challenge: - Challenge; rarely been defined o Seen as similar to threat, except that an actor has a slightly firmer grip on a challenge and may be able to handle it in the future - Security challenge; security issues that are not acutely time-critical or are non-violent o Primarily issues of the internal security agenda - ‘soft’ security challenges; poverty, collapse of the environment and underdevelopment Vulnerability: - To affect security a threat to a cherished object must be identified and the referent object must be vulnerable to this threat - Vulnerability; “a weakness that makes targets susceptible to physical or emotional injury or an attack” o Concept widened; dual focus ▪ Susceptibility to a certain threat, and unusual difficulties in coping and recovering - Two basic features; exposure & insufficient capacities - An estimate of the potential scale of destruction; a function of a society’s ability to adjust to a new set of circumstances - Hazard-related & subject-related - Factors influencing vulnerability --> external and internal o Internal; those of coping with and anticipating a threat o External: those involving an exposure to risk and shock - “Internal side of risk” --> highlights vulnerability’s dependence on certain characteristics o Ex. Of an individual, an environmental system, or a social structure Risk: - Risk; described as the leitmotif of contemporary society o Combination of the likelihood of a future event and its possible impact - Represents our “desire to control the future” - Dual nature; o Its perception may not necessarily be equal to its empirically measurable impact - Before beginning of modernity and the industrial age; o “External risks” --> risks perceived to be induced by non-human forces - Modern societies; o “Manufactured risks” --> man-made risks that are a product of modernization itself Security goals: - ‘Sectoralization of security’ o Goals of security can be conceptualized as the guiding rationale of the actors involved in each sector - Three security goals; o First-order goals; the bare primary concerns ▪ Main characteristic: notion of base values or bottom lines which might trigger defense mechanisms - Second-order goals; more beneficial, higher-risk achievements o Certain amount of risk required to achieve these goals; risk ceilings - Third-order goals; considered irrational maxima o Overriding characteristic governing behavior is supremacy ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Article: Van den Berg, B., Prins, R. (2021) - Security and safety: a conceptual analysis - Security; a key concept for social scientists - Safety; in the natural/engineering sciences and medicine - Safety / security concerns only exist when there is harm involved o Revolve around risks of a specific kind: whenever a potential for damage, a risk of harm o No vulnerabilities = no risk of harm --> human beings, objects, institutions... have vulnerabilities - Traditionally safety / security issues only pertain to harm that affects human beings o Harms not affecting humans = not generally considered to be safety / security issues - Distinction between direct & indirect harm to humans o Direct: harms that manifest directly in or on a human being o Indirect: harms that first manifest outside human beings o - Security & safety challenges; understanding sources of risk (security studies) and the possible interventions (safety science) to reduce the likelihood of risks turning into incidents and leading to grave harm - Security; about protections against intentional threats by humans and their consequences in terms of direct and indirect harms for humans - Safety; about protections against the causes and consequences of nonintentional harms, which put humans in danger either directly or indirectly - Integrated perspective; o Enables us to unravel and understand real-world cases in their full complexity ▪ Full specter of such cases; include both security and safety aspects into our analysis o May build bridges between the approaches, methods, findings, and ideas of safety science on the one hand and security studies on the other - The 2010 Earthquake in Haiti o January 12, 2010: Haiti was struck by an earthquake with a magnitude of 7 o Between 100,000 and 160,000 people lost their lives o Vital infrastructure severely damaged --> distribution of international aid complicated o Safety case: unintentional event ▪ Why so much damage? --> most buildings made with poor quality construction materials --> death toll far higher than it might have been with advanced construction o Security risks arose as well; related to crime ▪ Increases in crime and violence relating to gangs & sexual violence ▪ Lack of central authority, financial instability, lack of basic needs o Integrated perspective would bring these together and allow for alignment of intentional and unintentional causes and effects --> facilitates improved analysis and response to the complexity of the crisis and enriched method for managing future risk in this domain - Other cases; WannaCry and the National Health Service & MH17 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Article: Van den Berg, B., Prins, R.S. & Hutten, P. (2019). Security and safety: An integrative perspective. When we talk about safety and security, we are actually talking about the lack of them. As they have become a state of normalcy for us. Security and safety are the primary goals for human beings. This involves having shelter, food and health as much as societal bonds and a sense of belonging. There are two sides to security and safety: 1. Objective security and safety refer to the fact that valuable things to humans are not actually threatened. 2. Subjective security and safety is about people’s perception of threats and their fears Both components must be present to claim that security and safety are achieved. The awareness of security developed when people stopped taking risk and hazard for granted and started applying protective measures. However, with the protective measures, new man-made risks emerged. This means the more we try to protect ourselves from existing risks, the more we create new hazards. Furthermore, the more we became secure, the more security became vital and important to us. Security and safety, in Western states, are nowadays called a state of normalcy. Sometimes this state of normalcy can be suspended or disrupted: Sometimes, the return to the old normalcy is impossible and a new state of normalcy is created. Whether the old state is kept, or a new one is formed, suspension of the state of normalcy are always temporary. While security and safety have similar meanings, the former is usually used for intentional, man- made threats and the latter for unintentional natural threats. However, nowadays it is not easy nor wise to make this distinction, as security and safety threats are global both geographically and metaphorically. Three levels of responsibility when it comes to security issues can be identified: 1. Individuals all have a duty to ensure that their behavior does not endanger the health and wellbeing of others. 2. Organizations and businesses have the responsibility to keep the population secure. 3. The state is responsible for the security and safety of its citizens a. Since the state is based on a social contract, citizens give up their freedom to gain security Since the responsibility of security is shared among local, national, international, and global governments, we can talk of multi-level responsibility or perspective. Another way of dividing responsibility, as stated before, is by a multi-actor responsibility. However, due to an increase in public-private joint actions for security, it is difficult to attribute accountability, as private parties are not held to the same standards as public ones. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Lecture 4, 11/09 Note: it’s about insecurity --> absence of security - Under normal conditions we do not think about safety & security - State of normalcy --> incubation --> incident --> readjustment --> new state of normalcy Absolute requirements for something being a safety/security issue: - 1. It's always about (potential) harm - 2. It's always about people --> effect on human beings o Safety/security issues at the intersection between these 2 things o Always about (potential) harm to humans Types of harm: - Physical o All harms that happen in / on the body - Mental and/or emotional o Harms to your mind, leave emotional trace - Financial o Anything and everything that cost money - Social o All harms between people --> multiple of these categories can emerge at the same time - Harm can come from all sorts of directions: o Self o Other o Non-human --> all things around us (the rest) Two forms of harm: - Direct o All that affects us directly o Ex. Being in a car accident and becoming wounded, becoming the victim of bullying... - Indirect o Does not affect human personally --> to objects (non-human) o Ex. Becoming ill from eating poisoned fish, after losing one’s home in a fire, losing money through theft... o Financial harm is always indirect!! History: - Safety o 20th century --> industrial revolution --> realization that people were using technology ▪ Bring a lot of good to life but they are also dangerous - Security o Inner calm --> securitas = freedom from care (sine cura) ▪ Branch of philosophy --> security is a mental state o 1 century A.D. --> Security of empire st ▪ Securitas = protecting physical and political freedom (Pax Romana) ▪ Having inner calm as an empire --> moving from individual level to empire o ~1650 --> physical safety ▪ Asphaleia = security as basis for social contract (Thomas Hobbes) ▪ Protection of city states and physical protection of human beings --> ensuring that one stays alive - Monopoly on violence: o Only the state has the legitimate right to use or authorize the use of physical force; ▪ Military --> ensuring that borders are protected ▪ Police --> protect internal security of state, help maintain stability --> security is the very foundation of society Safety Science: - Automotive and aviation science/industry - Spread to engineering & public health - Focus: protecting humans and non-humans from harm - Why is there a risk of harm? --> humans and non-humans have vulnerabilities --> insurance companies demand more info on what happens in factories --> lead to legislations to make things safer - Safety science only sees the target Safety; refers to the protection of people coming to harm Security; refers to the protection of non-humans coming to harm Security Studies: - Political science: international relations --> national security - Growing field since WWII and Cold War - Focus: who (or what) causes harm? - Role of intentions in causing harm - Realization that things happened within nation states -> Focus starts to broaden -> security studies - In security studies the focus is on causes on particular harms (not targets) Causes of harm: - Intentional --> willfully (threat!) o Security - unintentional --> accidents (danger!) o Safety - Classical security studies see only the cause Cause: - Security: protection against intentional harm (caused by humans, target is irrelevant) - Safety: protection against unintentional harm (caused accidentally, target is irrelevant) Target: - Security: object of harm is non-human (cause is irrelevant) - Safety: object of harm is human (cause is irrelevant) Integration: - We label incidents based on the cause, but we include the target in our reasoning to get a complete picture - Security: o Protection against intentional harm that threatens human beings either directly or indirectly (by harming non-human) - Safety: o Protection against non-intentional harm that puts human beings in danger either directly or indirectly (by harming non-human) -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lecture 5, 16/09 - Governance of security Wicked problems: - Safety and security are wicked problems; unstructured, tough, difficult to solve issues, very different from ‘easy’ problems - 1. perspectives; o defining wicked problems is difficult, many different perspectives - 2. interconnected; o Interconnected to many other problems - 3. constraints; o Requires time, money, knowledge; makes it impossible to completely solve the issue - 4. unique; o Different from other problems; not a lot of experience of past cases bc they are new - 5. no trial & error; o You only have one shot Security & safety? (wicked problems); - 1. disagreement on perspectives (what’s the problem in the first place) - 2. connected to other problems (interconnected) - 3. constraints; dealing with these kinds of problems there are a lot of monetary constraints - 4. they’re unique; can’t compare them - 5. think of a crisis --> can’t experiment with them --> no trial & error --> often all factors present in a wicked problem; core elements --> all safety & security problems are wicked in essence Governance: Contested concept? - Coined by Walter Bryce Gallie (20th century philosopher) o Quote: “the term gives a name to a problematic situation that many people recognize: that in certain kinds of talk there is a variety of meanings employed for key terms in an argument” o Governance = contested concept o Abstract entities that say something about the world (justice, knowledge...) o Disagreement over what they mean - Types of responses: o Dogma: my response is right, everyone else is wrong --> you don’t solve anything o Skepticism: the other response saying everyone has an opinion, all equally true / false --> problematic in sense because you never end up having a conversation continuing from opinions; never reach consensus o Eclecticism: the more opinions the merrier --> when you continue to bring in new opinions, you don’t get to a point where you end up in a shared opinion - Familiarize yourself with multiple meanings of governance!! - Adopting a Public Administration perspective Building Blocks: - State o State has 3 core elements; ▪ Government, population and territory o State is a unique institution, stands above any organization o What is the difference between a state and a country? ▪ Country refers to the state’s territory most of the time o What is a nation? ▪ Nation has cultures; more of a community with a shared identity - Government o Each state has government organizations o Governments arrange many aspects of daily life within a society o Consists of whole range of organizations o Deal with all kinds of things on the public agenda o Make political decisions & implement policies o Examples of government organizations; ▪ Police, judicial system, parliament, tax authorities... o We need governments to have centralization in societies to deal with complex situations and issues o Multi-level - Governance o Government vs governance? ▪ Government = institutions ▪ Governance = activity of dealing with public issues o One can speak of governance without referring to a government ▪ Traditionally this was not the case; changed over the past decades o 9 approaches to governance; ▪ --> no need to learn this; but to understand there are different perspectives of governance o Common characteristics ▪ Focus on type actors --> governance is done by more than one actor ▪ Focus on process of governance --> look into negotiation, cooperation... instead of just hierarchies ▪ Pluricentric (not unicentric) --> other organizations that play a role ▪ Networks matter ▪ Some are normative: ideal type of governance o Disciplinary Lense: PA; ▪ Governance = the task of managing complex societies o Multi-actor - Politics o About reaching decisions o Politics = the activity by which groups reach binding decisions o Finding ways how to reconcile differences ▪ Through for example negotiations, debates... Short history of modern state: - State was only responsible for safety & security: internal security (police) & external security (military) - Rise of modern nation state (18th / 19th century); o Rule of law & democracy created - Timeline: o Night watchman state (19th century) ▪ To protect citizens --> minimal state ▪ Security threats ▪ Military, police, courts o Welfare state ▪ After WWII – 1945-1970s ▪ New responsibilities state; to provide healthcare, education, labor... ▪ Why this expansion? New political ideas; socialism New technologies; managing large states possible ▪ 3 principles: Equal opportunity Distribution of wealth Protection of vulnerable ones ▪ Maximal state ▪ Redistributional tax system o Regulatory state ▪ 1980s – now ▪ Welfare state unaffordable / undesirable ▪ Privatisation ▪ Focus on rule making ▪ Governing at a distance (NPM); Night watchman state Welfare state Regulatory state Steering Civil society State State Rowing Civil society State Civil society Current landscape: - Upward shift in who governs society --> state to EU for example - Downward shift --> responsibility of safety / security issues moved from state to local / regional level - Horizontal shift --> parties outside government involved What drives these shifts? - State expenses - New political ideas - Complexity - Global security --> key message: look beyond nation state! - Two perspectives: o Multi-actor perspective ▪ About different kind of actors Governmental actors Businesses, PPP (public private partnerships) Societal actors; public, individual citizens... ▪ All become stakeholders o Multi-level perspective ▪ International level ▪ National level ▪ Individual level ▪ Local level ▪ Community level State centric --> network approach Big questions: - Regulating the private security sector? - Checks and balances? - Democratic accountability? - Transparency? - Main concern: hollowing out the state? o Shift to multi-actor & multi-level then why do we have state in the first place? The interrelated problems of governability –accountability – legitimacy: - Governability: the capacity to solve urgent societal problems o Concentration of power ▪ Checks and balances --> example; elections, separation of power... ▪ Don't want abuse of power - Shifts in governance o Multiple loci of power ▪ Legitimacy --> perception of public, does the public accept and trust ▪ Accountability --> who can we hold accountable when someone else in a private sector messes up Alternatives? --> to ensure accountability & legitimacy - Facilitating transparent debates and discussions - Making sure people are smart and educated enough Recap: - Security & safety --> state governance --> multi-level& multi-actor perspective - What to study & what not: about today’s readings!! o Hague and Harrop ▪ Key definitions (know them & be able to work with them) Politics Government Governance Sovereignty Authority Legitimacy Power o Van Kersbergen and van Waarden (2004) ▪ Be able to provide a basic explanation of the article’s key argument relating to: Approaches to governance & shared characteristics o --> focus on 5 most relevant approaches for Security Studies Several shifts in governance o --> types and causes The interrelated problem of governability, accountability and legitimacy o --> challenges of networked governance o --> alternatives checks and balances ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Article: Hague, R., Harrop, M., & Breslin, S. (2004). Comparative government and politics Politics: - A term with varied uses and nuances - The activity by which groups reach binding collective decisions through attempting to reconcile differences among their members - 4 significant points; o Politics is a collective activity --> involving people who accept a common membership or at least acknowledge a shared fate o Politics presumes an initial diversity of views --> about goals & means o Politics involves reconciling such differences --> through discussion and persuasion (communication is central) o Political decisions become authoritative policy for a group --> binding members to agreements that are implemented by force if necessary - Necessity of politics arises from the collective character of human life - Consists in procedures for allowing a range of views to be expressed and then combined into an overall decision o ‘Political action may be interpreted as a way to work out rationally the best common solution to a common problem – or at least a way to work out a reasonable common solution. That is, politics consists of public choice’ - Essence of the subject: o Politics is about reaching decisions which impinge on both the shared and the competing interests of the group’s members o “Pure conflict is war, pure cooperation is true love, politics is a mixture of both” - involves negotiation, bargaining, and compromise Government: - Groups must not only reach decisions on their common affairs, but they must also work out how their decisions are to be agreed and implemented - Once government reaches a decision, it must be put into effect - Definition: Government consists of institutions responsible for making collective decisions for society. More narrowly, government refers to the top political level within such institutions. - Public servants, judges and the police all form part of the government - Argument for government: the efficiency gained by establishing a standard way of reaching and enforcing decisions - Government offers benefits of security and predictability - Two-faced, high-risk enterprise, offering the rewards of peace but also the danger of intensified conflict Governance: - Governance; the activity, process or quality of governing o Task of public regulation, a function which government may share with other actors - Depending on the sector, actors might include employers, journalists and even academics - Involves the coordination of both public and private sector bodies; the ability to get things done without the capacity to command that they are done - Implies persuasion exerted through a network, rather than a direct control over a hierarchy - Denotes the activity of making collective decisions, a task in which government institutions may not play a leading, or even any, role. o In IR for example, no world government exists to resolve problems, but many issues are resolved by negotiation – a case of governance without government The state and sovereignty - The state is a political community formed by a territorial population which is subject to one government. A country usually refers to a state’s territory and population, rather than its government. In international law, a state’s territory extends to its airspace, continental shelf and territorial waters - State is now the dominant principle of political organization on the world’s landmass o Main exceptions; a few remaining colonies (Britain’s Gibraltar) and territories currently administered by the UN (Bosnia) - State is a unique institution, standing above all other organizations in society o Can use force to enforce its will and citizens must accept its authority if they continue to live within its borders - State is more than its government o Denotes the ensemble formed by combining government, population and territory - All countries have someone who serves as head of state, but that person is not usually head of the government - ‘sovereign’: originally meant the one seated above o Sovereign body: the one institution within a country which is not subject to higher authority --> that body is the state - Sovereignty refers to the ultimate source of authority in society. The sovereign is the highest and final decision-maker within a community. Sovereignty is a legal title which is possessed in its entirety or not at all; a state cannot be partly sovereign - Internal sovereignty refers to law-making power within a territory - External sovereignty describes international recognition of the sovereign’s jurisdiction over its territory o ‘The sovereign state’ = both dimensions Nations and nationalism - Nations are imagined communities, and a nation is often viewed as any group which upholds a claim to be regarded as such - 2 ways to be more precise o Nations are people with homelands o When a group claims to be a nation, it asserts a right to self-determination within its homelands; shared culture to justify its claim to political autonomy - Group united by a common language, history or ethnicity becomes a nation by achieving or seeking control over its own destiny, whether through independence or devolution o ‘Nations are spatially concentrated and culturally distinct groups attempting to attain political self-determination' - Definition; ‘a human group conscious of forming a community, sharing a common culture, attached to a clearly demarcated territory, having a common past and a common project for the future and claiming the right to rule itself’ - Nationalism, the key ideology of the 20th century, is the belief that nations are entitled to self-determination. o Nationalism ‘is primarily a political principle, which holds that the political and national units should be in agreement’ o Significance: it offers one answer to a question beyond the reach of democracy: who are ‘the people’ who are to govern themselves Nations and states Description Type of Definition Example Nation-state State A state with its own nation Iceland Multinational State A state with more than one nation Scotland and Wales in the state United Kingdom Stateless nation Nation A nation which lacks its own state the Kurds and whose people are spread across several countries Diaspora Nation A nation dispersed beyond a home Jews state - A citizen is a person accorded the legal rights and duties flowing from membership of a state o In contrast to subjects, citizens are related to the state as equals and their rights are set out in law o Citizens possess the right and perhaps the obligation to participate in the affairs of their republic, including waging its wars Power - Currency of politics o Enables collective decisions to be made and enforced o The tool that enables rulers both to serve and to exploit their subjects - Politics is ‘concerned with the distribution, exercise and consequences of power’ - The language of power: o Power: the production of intended effects o Power to: the ability to achieve one’s goals o Power over: the ability to overcome opposition o Incentive-shaping: exerting power through the use of inducements and threats o Preference-shaping: exerting influence through persuasion and control of the climate of opinion Authority - Broader notion than power o Power is the capacity to act; authority is the right to do so - Exists when subordinates acknowledge the right of superiors to give orders - Authority is the right to rule --> strictly, authority is the right to act, rather than the power to do so o Creates its own power so long as people accept that the authority figure has the right to make decisions - Weber’s three ways of validating political power: o Tradition ▪ Based on ‘piety for what actually, allegedly or presumably has always existed’ ▪ Traditional rulers: don’t need to justify their authority o Charismatic ▪ Leaders are obeyed because they inspire their followers, who credit their heroes with exceptional and even supernatural qualities o Legal-rational ▪ Obedience is owed to principles rather than to people ▪ Government based on rules, not traditional or charismatic leaders ▪ Limits the abuse of power Type Basis Illustration Traditional Custom and the established way of Monarchy doing things Charismatic Intense commitment to the leader Many revolutionary leaders and his message Legal-rational Rules and procedures; the office, not Bureaucracy the person Legitimacy - Legitimacy normally used in discussing an entire system of government, whereas authority often refers to a specific position - Political question; refers to whether people accept the validity either of a specific law or, more generally, of the entire political system - Legitimate system of government is one based on authority; that is, those subject to its rule recognize its right to make decisions - Regulations can be legal without being legitimate - Crucial concept in understanding both the stability and the effectiveness of governments - ‘Legitimacy involves the capacity of the political system to engender and maintain the belief that the existing political systems are the most appropriate ones for the society’ --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article: Kersbergen, K. van & van Waarden, F. (2004). Governance as a bridge between disciplines: Crossdisciplinary inspiration regarding shifts in governance and problems of governability, accountability and legitimacy. Several shifts in governance o --> types and causes The interrelated problem of governability, accountability and legitimacy o --> challenges of networked governance o --> alternatives checks and balances 1. Good governance, which is used in the field of economic development. This consists in a. Reducing wasteful spending b. Investing in public health, education, and security c. Promoting the private sector d. Reforming the tax system e. Creating greater transparency and accountability in the government 2. Governing without a government, first act. refers to the possibility of governing without a government in the form of international or global governance. While some time ago people saw the belonging to an IO as a sort of subscription that could be withdrawn at any time, now IOs are seen as a form of global governance that governs interactions between and among countries. 3. Governance without govern, second act. This use of the concept refers to the self- organization of societies and communities. 4. Economic governance, or the assumption that markets do not stem from the absence of intervention, on the contrary they need to be created and maintained by institutions. 5. Corporate governance, or the system of directions and control of business corporations 6. New public management or bringing management concepts from the private sector to the public one. The market becomes a model for public policy implementation 7. Network governance, first act. Networks are conceptualized as self-organizing pluricentric forms of governance. They are characterized by an exchange of resources and negotiations. The newest contribution to this study is actor-centered institutionalist, which seeks to explain policies and outcomes from the actions of actors, knowing that these actions are shaped by the institutional setting. 8. Network governance, second act. This refers to the notion of multi-level governance, or the involvement of international, national, and subnational levels in policy setting and making. This conceptualization is much used by scholars to understand the European integration 9. Network governance, third act. This refers to inter-firm cooperation in the private sector. 5 most relevant approaches to Security Studies: - 1. Governing without government 1: International Relations o In the realm of international security, cooperation often occurs without centralized governing authority. International security organizations (e.g., NATO, UN), treaties, and agreements help coordinate efforts to combat transnational threats (like terrorism, cyber threats, and climate-related security issues) without a singular global government o Example: Peacekeeping missions or international counterterrorism coalitions function through agreements among states rather than a global governing body. - 2. Governance in and by networks I: in general o Network governance is central to managing security in a globalized world. Security threats often require cooperation across various stakeholders, including governments, international organizations, private companies, and NGOs. Such networked governance is essential in areas like counterterrorism, cybersecurity, and border control. o Example: Multilateral cooperation in intelligence sharing between security agencies and tech companies to counter cybersecurity threats. - 3. Network governance II: Multilevel governance o Security issues often operate across multiple levels – local, national, and international. For instance, dealing with global terrorism, climate-related security risks, or organized crime requires coordination at all these levels. Multilevel governance allows for addressing security challenges that cross borders and scales o Example: Coordination between local police, national security agencies, and international bodies like Interpol or Europol in managing transnational crime. - 4. Economic governance (with and without the state): Markets and their institutions o This approach is relevant in the context of private military contractors, private security companies, and the increasing role of market forces in providing security services. The privatization and outsourcing of security, as well as the role of corporations in safeguarding critical infrastructure, fall under this category. o Example: Use of private military companies (PMCs) in conflict zones or private companies securing critical infrastructure like telecommunications or energy. - 5. Network governance III: Private – From hierarchies to networks o This approach emphasizes the shift from hierarchical state-centered models to governance by networks, which includes private entities in delivering security. The privatization of security services, such as cybersecurity, private military firms, and the protection of critical infrastructure, is a significant trend in modern security governance. o Example: The role of private cybersecurity firms in defending against cyber- attacks or the involvement of private contractors in providing logistics and security in military operations. Why are other approaches less relevant? - Good governance --> important in ensuring transparency and accountability in general, but not as specific to the operational aspects of security governance - Governance without government II: Self organization --> focuses more on spontaneous, non-state forms of governance, which may apply to small-scale community security but is less central to large-scale or international security concerns - Good governance in the private sector: Corporate governance --> relevant to the management and ethical conduct of corporations, but its direct relevance to security governance is limited unless discussing corporate involvement in security - Good governance in the public sector: New public management --> while reforms in public administration can impact security institutions (e.g. police or military), this approach focuses on efficiency and management, which is tangential to core security governance concerns Shifts in governance: - Upward shift: towards more supranational institutions o Created many controversies, as nation-states have always been at the center of world politics o European integration, for example, helps the member states cope with the internationalization of economy and politics, but it pressures them to abide to EU law - Downward shift: in the sense that inter- and supranational institutions rely heavily on local and regional governments to execute the laws and regulations, giving them more power than they had before - Horizontally: shift from the executive and legislative power to the judiciary o Courts are assuming a more active role in rule interpretation and formulation, meaning they are occupying the seats of politicians and administrators; this process has been sped up by the EU, which required many countries to introduce judicial review - Horizontally: shift from public to semi-public organizations and governance o States have delegated many tasks to semi-public institutions or private businesses -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lecture 8, 30/09 - What is risk? Anything and everything in life has vulnerabilities - Consequently, there are risks o Dangers = unintentional, accidental --> safety issue o Threats = intentional --> security issue What is risk? - 3 core elements o Chance – when we label something a risk, we mean something might happen in the future but don’t know when, how, in what way it manifests itself --> element of uncertainty o The future – risk always relates to the future, may happen --> horizon towards the future (in the instant of death, all risk disappears because no future) o Intervention – presumed ability to intervene, we can intervene on the likelihood of something happening or impact / consequences ‘risciare’ = to dare Risk = denotes the possibility that an undesirable state of reality (adverse effects) may occur as a result of natural events or human activities Risk relates to uncertainty; - Two types of uncertainty o 1. subway uncertainty: always go to uni by subway, you write how long it takes to get there --> if the future remains the same as in the past you can start making predictions on how long it takes you to get there ▪ Bell curve: if you have enough data, you can make accurate predictions o 2. coconut uncertainty: there was a guy who wanted to go to tropical island, finally got there after hard work, sat under coconut tree, coconut fell, he died ▪ About events that are super rare, but when they do, they have disastrous consequences ▪ Can't do math --> don't know when it is going to happen, no predictions no probabilities Donald Rumsfeld --> came up with a new set of concepts - Known knowns --> things we know we know o Stuff that we know for certain (ex. We die someday) o No uncertainty - Known unknowns --> things we know we don’t know o All the things that we are aware that these things exist, but we don’t know when it materializes --> risk o Quantifiable uncertainty --> subway uncertainty o Also, some parts unquantifiable uncertainty - Unknown unknowns --> things we don’t know we don’t know o Stuff that we have no knowledge of, coconut uncertainties, no pattern, take us by surprise, positive and negative (9/11 --> it took everyone by surprise, sudden historical event that baffled the world) o Unquantifiable uncertainty –> coconut uncertainty History: - For the longest time in history, there was no conception of risk - Why did this notion of risk suddenly pop up? o 1. Theory of probability ▪ We can calculate odds of things happening –> future chances ▪ Pushed forward scientific thinking but also different worldviews o 2. Trade & discovery ▪ Age of discovery (+- 1450-1750) --> travelling the glove, colonization, international trade ▪ Trade is risky, especially in this period of history –> big investments, pirots... o 3. Finally! Numbers to work with ‘Elementary’ risks - Cold, famine, natural disasters, epidemics, war - Only one risk that is human induced (war) Man-made / manufactured risks The more & the better protections we generate, new (unforeseen) risks generate as well Zero risk society --> society that just cannot bare the thought of things falling apart - Want to fix, contain and prevent it Paradigms: - Renn’s perspectives on risk: Technical Economic Psychological Risk management: Cost-benefit Psychometrics probability & laypeople vs. impact experts Social Cultural Social structure Cultural variation impact on society construction policy, governance policy, governance 1. Technical: we can identify risks in the world, once we’ve identified them, we can understand how likely they are to happen; if you can establish the probability you can deal with it 2. Economic: cost-benefit; in the world there are limited amounts of funds so how to make decisions which risks to address and which to ignore 3. Psychological: there are risks out there, but it’s also relevant to look at how people experience the bad things that happen and how people think about it --> experts: think about the chance of something happening vs. Laypeople (general public) think of the consequences 4. Social: risk is about social structure, what’s the impact on society, what is the role of policy making, how do politicians make agendas 5. Cultural: perspective on risk that for instance make comparisons of how risks are framed in different places around the world Simplified: 1. Realism a. Technological economic psychometrics b. Risks are real, measurable, manageable 2. Weak constructivism a. Social + cultural: risk society b. Risks are real, but we understand them culturally 3. Strong constructivism a. Postmodern perspectives b. There's no such thing as ‘real’ risk; risk is purely a social construct -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article: Renn, O. (1992). Concepts of risk: a classification. The function of all social systems is to reduce complexity and select policy areas on which it is worth it to spend scarce resources. This also means that they have the task to prioritize or neglect certain risks, depending on how trivial or important they appear. Whether they do one or the other depends on some factors. If the risk is objectively evaluated and defined, and the resources needed to prevent it are as well, it is clear the number of resources that need to be spent. On the contrary, when the risk is socially constructed, the response usually follows social values. From this stems that both an empirical view of risk and a constructivist one is not the ideal approach. Many scholars tried to give various perspectives on how to classify risk, but they mainly focus on sociological and cultural concepts. Many agree that all the definitions and concepts do not provide a common denominator, however they do provide a framework for comparison and analysis. Classification: defines the conceptual tools necessary to select and order the phenomena a researcher attempts to study o May not offer one common conceptual denominator but may provide a framework for comparison and analysis Overview of risk perspectives: Two types of risk concepts (Bradbury): o Risk as a physical attribute o Risk as a social construct - Sociological point of view; three perspectives on risks; o Cultural o Individual choice o Systems approaches Seven approaches to the conception and assessment of risk: 1. The actuarial approach (using statistical predictions) 2. The toxicological and epidemiological approach (including ecotoxicology) 3. The engineering approach (including probabilistic risk assessment, PRA) 4. The economic approach (including risk-benefit comparisons) 5. The psychological approach (including psychometric analysis) 6. Social theories of risk 7. Cultural theory of risk (using grid-group analysis) --> all risk concepts have one element in common: the distinction between reality and possibility These concepts use different base units, methodologies, risk measures and functions, but have one element in common: the distinction between reality and possibility. If there were no distinction, it would mean that the future is pre-determined and the term “risk” would be void of meaning, as there is nothing we could do to prevent events from happening. Risk is therefore both a descriptive and a normative concept, as it studies cause-effect relationships and it aims to reduce the damage done by the events. The definition of risk contains three elements: 1. Undesirable outcomes 2. Possibility of occurrence 3. State of reality These three are conceptualized differently in each perspective There are five groups of perspectives: 1. Technical perspectives, which have been widely criticized by the social sciences, anticipate potential physical harm to humans a. The actuarial approach uses as base unit the expected value of an event. The undesirable effect is physical harm, which can be empirically observed. This means that this perspective relies on two factors: the availability of statistical data and the stability of the independent variables. b. Similar characteristics can be found in toxicological and epidemiological, except that it calculates the chance of undesirable effects by exploring and modelling causal relationship explicitly. It usually provides early warning signals. c. The engineering approach analyses the probability of safety failures of technological systems. Every part of a machine is assessed and consequently used to draft a conclusive probability of failure. 2. The economic concept of risk, which is in between the technical and social sciences. It concerns the transformation of physical harm in into subjective utilities. Its unit is the degree of satisfaction with a certain transaction. 3. Psychological perspective on risk focuses on personal preferences and attempts to explain why individuals do not base their risk judgements on expected values, on people’s biases when taking decisions based on probabilistic information, and the importance of contextual variables in shaping estimations and evaluations of risk. 4. Sociological perspectives on risk are extremely numerous and varied. A common factor is that humans perceive the world through social and cultural lenses. The dominant approaches are the following: a. Rational actor concept, where social actions are seen as a result of deliberate intentions by individual or social actors to promote their interests b. Social mobilization theory focuses on what motivates actors to take actions and what are the necessary conditions for them to succeed c. Organizational theory emphasizes the routinization of tasks and the diffusion of responsibility d. Systems theory regards risks as an element of a larger social or institutional unit. It focuses on structural factors and on the competition among various systems of knowledge in a society e. Neo-Marxist and critical theory rely on a rational actor approach, but also on structural analysis for determining institutional interests and social group behavior f. Social constructionist concepts treat risks as social constructs that are determined by structural forces in society. No risk can be determined by objective scientific analysis --> All these approaches are interested in explaining or predicting the experience of social injustice and unfairness in relation to distributional inequities. 5. Cultural perspective on risk argues that social responses to risks are determined by prototypes of cultural belief patterns -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article: Giddens, A. (1999). Risk and responsibility. - Risk and responsibility are closely linked --> modern life is shaped by various risks stemming from scientific advancements - We don’t and can’t know --> applies to a diversity of new risk situations - Risk society: a society where we increasingly live on a high technological frontier which no one can completely understand, and which generates a diversity of possible futures - Origins of risk society can be traced to two fundamental transformations o The end of nature: ▪ There are now few if any aspects of the physical world untouched by human intervention ▪ Human intervention has altered natural environments, shifting concerns from nature’s threats to human impacts on nature ▪ This is a quite recent process; it happened when we stopped worrying what nature could do to us and started being preoccupied about what we could do to nature o The end of tradition: ▪ Traditional roles and norms have diminished, leading to individualization where people must navigate life choices without established guidelines ▪ out life is no longer lived as fate. We now know that life is not already written and that our actions have consequences in the future that we can control - We must separate risk from hazard or danger o The notion of risk was born later than the ones of danger and hazard. The difference is dangers are experienced as given, while risk involves knowing that the future depends on our actions, which people living some centuries ago did not know - The word was first used by explorers while uncovering new places. Since then, its use has become temporal, rather than spatial. Risk has always been seen in a negative light, as it involves the potential unfolding of undesirable outcomes. - ‘risk’ always has a negative connotation; refers to the chance of avoiding an unwanted outcome, but it can quite often be seen in a positive light; taking of bold initiatives in the face of a problematic future There are two kinds of risks: 1. External risks, or events that may occur unexpectedly, but that happen often enough for us to predict them and find protective measures against them. 2. Manufactured risks, or those risks that are created by the progression of human development and technology With the intense technological development, the future has become a plurality of possible scenarios rather than a direct line. In a certain way, a risk society offers much more choice to people, depending on class and income. New technologies allow humans to do things they could not do before, such as having children while infertile. This enlargement of the choice domain is also due to the weakening of tradition. Scientific knowledge was supposed to overcome tradition, but it actually ended up being an authority external to a large part of the population. Risk is highly connected with security and safety and connected to responsibility. The connection with responsibility is easily explainable: for there to be a risk, someone must make some sort of choice, making that someone responsible for the risk. The transition from external to manufactured risk brough about a crisis of responsibility, due to the ambiguity of manufactured risks. The consequences are: 1. The emergence of “organized irresponsibility”, meaning there are a diversity of humanly created risks that have been created by people or organizations, but for which no one is accountable. 2. The adoption of the “precautionary principle”, or the idea that action on risks should be taken, even though there is scientific uncertainty about them. 3. Sometimes, even collective risks have individual responsibility. Even though in many circumstances individuals cannot be help culpable, that is not always the case. 4. The welfare state is being seen as a form of collective risk management. 5. Where a society cannot deal with organized irresponsibility, people start to fight about who is to be held responsible and culpability is found everywhere. 6. The negative and positive connotations of risk are studies separately ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Article: Berg, H. P. (2010). Risk management: procedures, methods and experiences The common concept in all definitions of risk is the uncertainty of outcomes. It is the expression of the likelihood and impact of a future event. There are two principles when it comes to risk management: 1. Consequence-based safety management focuses on putting boundaries to the impact of the worst-case scenario 2. Risk-based safety management focuses on the probabilistic aspect of risk and studies how to mitigate the risk All organizations take part in risk management, whether consciously or not. Risk management is defined as the systematic approach to setting the best course of action under uncertainty, by identifying, assessing, understanding, acting on and communicating risk issues. Nowadays, a more integrated risk management approach is needed, as risks present themselves on many fronts. Integrated risk management is defined as a continuous, proactive, and systematic process to understand, manage, and communicate risk from an organization-wide perspective. Risk management also focuses on innovation, in order to achieve great results with little effort. The term safety management subsumes the entirety of all activities relating to the planning, organization, management and supervision of individuals and work activities with a view to the efficient achievement of a high degree of safety performance. The risk management steps are: 1. Establishing goals and context a. This step is needed to understand the environment in which one is operating b. Developing risk criteria c. Methods to assess the environmental analysis are SWOT and PEST 2. Identifying risks a. Sometimes a risk is an opportunity no one has realized b. The identification depends on many factors: i. Application area ii. Nature of the project iii. Project phase iv. Resources available v. Regulatory requirements vi. Client requirements c. People with knowledge from different parts of the organization should contribute d. It is vital to locate the sources of the risk 3. Analyzing the risks a. Once the sources are known, one must quantify the risk to estimate its potential b. Qualitative, semi-quantitative and quantitative methods are used c. This is for understanding the likelihood and the impact of a risk d. Finally, the risk level is found by intersecting the likelihood and the impact of the risk 4. Assessing the risks a. The risk is compared with previously documented similar risks b. The risk is evaluated, and one decides whether it is acceptable or not. It may be considered tolerable when: i. The risk is low ii. Treatment is not available iii. The opportunity outweighs the threat 5. Treating the risks a. Unacceptable risks require treatment b. Developing cost effective options c. One might develop strategies to: i. Avoiding the risk ii. Mitigating the risk iii. Transferring the risk iv. Retaining the risk d. Determining the target level of risk resulting from the implementation of the treatment 6. Monitoring the environment a. Description of how the outcomes of the treatment are measured b. Occasionally, it is necessary to control the effectiveness of the treatment 7. Continuously communicating a. The documentation about a risk must be communicated to all the staff ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lecture 9: Safety science (focus on man-made risk) emerged as a scientific approach, they came with risks and with risks come protections. These protection topics began with industrial engineering, transportation, finance and health Vulnerabilities and risk of harm: - Put a barrier between harm (cause) and targets: the first barriers are to prevent an incident. Later barriers are to reduce the impact - ‘a barrier is an obstruction or hindrance (or defense) that may prevent or lessen the impact of an unwanted consequence. This may include stopping, slowing down, restricting, limiting or in some other way weakening an uncontrollable process’ (Erik Hollnagel) Types of barriers (the crocodile metaphor): - Deal with danger by eliminating the danger - Deal with danger by moving the target out of reach - Deal with danger by adding a passive barrier (barrier that acts as a barrier in all circumstances always, even if danger is dead, doesn’t need any power. Such as a wall) - Deal with danger by adding an active barrier (human must put effort into something such as a weapon to protect itself) Passive barriers: suncream, helmet, poles, camera protector Active barriers: password, airbags, rain sprinkler “a passive barrier can fulfill its safety function by its mere existence, such as a wall or a railing, whereas an active barrier performs its function in response to a specific state or condition” Elements of a risk: 1: water is the source of risk 2: crack is the vulnerability 3: sticking his finger in the crack as a prevention control 5: migration control; we put thingsin place to lower the impact of the event Crisis: an incident with massive impact The bow tie model: Left side are the risks, right side are the consequences Event trees and fault trees: Event trees: push 1 thing which combinations of factors will lead to the best or worst outcome? 1. Sprinkler and fire dept work 2. Only sprinkler works 3. Only fire dept works 4. None work You can calculate the outcome Fault trees: Going back to the sources of incidents Circle: is a basic event Diamond: undeveloped event because we don’t know for certain Logic gates: AND gate: both inputs need to be positive to lead to an output OR gate: one positive input will lead to an output A fault tree and an event tree can be qualitative OR quantitative, but a bow tie model is always ONLY qualitative!!! Risk management (all 7 steps): ISO: the international standard organization. It is a framework that organizations can use as a guideline to address all sorts of risks “Risk management is a systematic approach to setting the best course of action under uncertainty by identifying, assessing, understanding, acting on and communicating risk issues” Risk management is about anticipatory control: anticipating that something bad will happen in the future and try to control it Risk management by establishing the context: - Risk criteria: what to look for - Risk sources: when? Why? Where? How? - Risk effects: impact - Risk involvements: s

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