The limits of imagination: Securitisation and exceptionalism in the World of Warcraft video game

IF 2.5 Q1 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
V. Castro
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引用次数: 1

Abstract

Abstract Securitisation theory has too often been associated with the liberal state of exception and its problematic baggage. The Copenhagen School's early claims to deconstruct (not reproduce) the national security logic seem overlooked. Using the fantasy video game World of Warcraft as a large-scale thought experiment, this article asks how a distinct security mode is still possible when the normalisation of armed violence exceeds even what Carl Schmitt's political theory can provide for. Following a careful reading of Ole Wæver's formulation of the ‘existential threat’, securitisation asserts that without a certain referent object, the world becomes meaningless. As a tool for reshaping the limits of imagination, securitisation enacts political communities in World of Warcraft by turning upside down common wisdom about normalcy and security. While normal politics are violently conflictual, securitisation fills in the role of international norms and organisation, fostering supranational cooperation and erasing sovereign disputes. Securitisation thus far exceeds its contingent incarnation in the modern concept of security – a conclusion that has consequences for the normative debate on securitisation and for non-Western interpretations of the theory.
想象力的极限:《魔兽世界》电子游戏中的证券化和例外论
摘要证券化理论经常与自由例外状态及其问题包袱联系在一起。哥本哈根学派早期声称要解构(而不是复制)国家安全逻辑,这似乎被忽视了。本文以奇幻电子游戏《魔兽世界》为大型思想实验,询问当武装暴力的正常化甚至超过卡尔·施密特的政治理论所能提供的时,一种独特的安全模式如何仍然可能。在仔细阅读了Ole Wæver对“生存威胁”的表述后,证券化断言,如果没有特定的参考对象,世界将变得毫无意义。作为重塑想象力极限的工具,证券化通过颠覆关于常态和安全的普遍智慧,在《魔兽世界》中建立了政治社区。虽然正常的政治是激烈冲突的,但证券化扮演了国际规范和组织的角色,促进了超国家合作,消除了主权争端。到目前为止,证券化远远超过了其在现代安全概念中的偶然体现——这一结论对证券化的规范性辩论和非西方对该理论的解释产生了影响。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
3.40
自引率
13.60%
发文量
30
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