Changing scenes of security in the time of the coronavirus pandemic

IF 1.8 Q2 INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
Alexandra Gheciu
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引用次数: 1

Abstract

In early 2020, as many parts of the world went into unprecedented lockdowns, senior EU officials stated that only a united approach would enable Europe to address a pandemic that was endangering the security of individuals and societies. In the words of the European Commission President, ‘in this crisis, and in our Union more generally, it is only by helping each other that we can help ourselves’ (Von der 2020). In this context, it is important to ask: how has the European (in)security environment evolved in the context of the COVID pandemic? This article addresses that question by drawing on insights from the field of Critical Security Studies (CSS) and post-colonial/postsocialist perspectives. Those insights help us understand how, contrary to statements of solidarity issued by senior EU politicians, the pandemic has accentuated structural inequalities and the condition of (in)security experienced by many vulnerable individuals across Europe. The focus in this article is on developments concerning Central Europe, in an attempt to advance understanding of the important – yet still under-studied – role played by post-socialist spaces in the redefinition of the (in)security environment in Europe and, more broadly, in the (re)construction of the EU (see also Mälksoo 2021; Lovec, Kočí, and Šabič et al. 2021). Understanding developments in postsocialist spaces enables us to shed light on similarities between the dehumanising practices enacted by Central European governments and by their West European counterparts, and deepens knowledge of the conflicts and contradictions that lie at the heart of European politics. Central to these contradictions is the growing clash between liberal/illiberal ideas and political forces that has profoundly affected EU politics in recent years, and that has become particularly acute in the context of the COVID pandemic.
冠状病毒大流行时期不断变化的安全场景
2020年初,随着世界许多地区进入前所未有的封锁状态,欧盟高级官员表示,只有采取统一的方法,欧洲才能应对危及个人和社会安全的疫情。用欧盟委员会主席的话来说,“在这场危机中,以及在我们的联盟中,只有相互帮助,我们才能帮助自己”(冯德2020)。在这种情况下,重要的是要问:在新冠肺炎疫情的背景下,欧洲(内部)安全环境是如何演变的?本文通过借鉴关键安全研究(CSS)领域和后殖民主义/后社会主义视角的见解来解决这个问题。这些见解有助于我们理解,与欧盟高级政客发表的团结声明相反,疫情如何加剧了欧洲各地许多弱势群体的结构性不平等和安全状况。本文的重点是中欧的事态发展,试图加深对后社会主义空间在重新定义欧洲(内部)安全环境以及更广泛地在欧盟(重建)建设中发挥的重要作用的理解(另见Mälksoo 2021;Lovec、Kočí和Šabič等人,2021)。了解后社会主义空间的发展,使我们能够揭示中欧政府和西欧政府制定的非人化做法之间的相似之处,并加深对欧洲政治核心冲突和矛盾的认识。这些矛盾的核心是自由/非自由思想与政治力量之间日益加剧的冲突,近年来,这种冲突深刻影响了欧盟政治,在新冠肺炎疫情的背景下,这种冲突变得尤为严重。
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
3.30
自引率
0.00%
发文量
18
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