The Securitisation of Climate Change and the Governmentalisation of Security

296 Pages·2020·3.791 MB·English

by  Franziskus von Lucke

The Securitisation
of Climate Change and
the Governmentalisation
of Security
Franziskus von Lucke
New Security Challenges
Series Editor
George Christou
University of Warwick
Coventry, UK
The last decade has demonstrated that threats to security vary greatly in
their causes and manifestations and that they invite interest and demand
responses from the social sciences, civil society, and a very broad policy
community. In the past, the avoidance of war was the primary objective,
but with the end of the Cold War the retention of military defence as the
centrepiece of international security agenda became untenable. There has
been, therefore, a significant shift in emphasis away from traditional
approaches to security to a new agenda that talks of the softer side of secu-
rity, in terms of human security, economic security, and environmental
security. The topical New Security Challenges series reflects this pressing
political and research agenda.
More information about this series at
http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/14732
Franziskus von Lucke
The Securitisation
of Climate Change
and the
Governmentalisation
of Security
Franziskus von Lucke
Institute of Political Science
University of Tübingen
Tübingen, Germany
New Security Challenges
ISBN 978-3-030-50905-7 ISBN 978-3-030-50906-4 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-50906-4
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A
cknowledgements
This book would not have been possible without the continuous support
of a number of people. The journey that eventually led to this book started
at the University of Hamburg in the seminars of Angela Oels, which gave
me a first glimpse into the rabbit hole of Foucauldian governmentality
studies and climate politics. Thus, many thanks to Angela Oels for the
inspiration, various interesting discussions and the fruitful collaboration in
the CliSAP excellence cluster. I am also very grateful for the support of
Antje Wiener and Michael Brzoska during my time at the University of
Hamburg.
The journey then continued at the University of Tübingen where I
want to particularly thank my PhD supervisor Thomas Diez who sup-
ported my theoretical ideas from the beginning and with whom I had
countless fruitful debates on governmentality, power, securitisation and
climate change. I am also obliged to my colleagues, the student assistants
and my fellow PhD students in Tübingen, with whom I had great discus-
sions, who helped to compile empirical data and who proofread the book.
Thus, many thanks go to Zehra Wellmann, Schielan Babat, Sandra Dürr,
Thea Güttler, Leonie Haueisen, Benno Keppner, Miriam Keppner,
Katharina Krause, Hanna Spanhel and Josefa Velten. Beyond the Tübingen
crowd, a special thanks to Stefan Elbe, whose ideas greatly inspired my
theoretical approach, and who gave me invaluable feedback on earlier ver-
sions of this book. I am also grateful for the input at workshops, confer-
ences and particularly in the Tübingen IR colloquium. In particular, I
want to thank Ingrid Boas, Olaf Corry, Rita Floyd, Stefano Guzzini,
Andreas Hasenclever, Markus Lederer, Matthias Leese, Matt McDonald,
v
vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Aysem Mert, Delf Rothe and Jürgen Scheffran. Finally, I am indebted to
my interview partners in the US, Mexico, Germany and the UK who took
the time to openly discuss with me the climate security debates in their
respective countries.
Last but not least, a special thanks to my wife Sabrina von Lucke, to my
children as well as to my family and friends who had to endure me in times
of crisis, always took the time to listen to my ideas and continuously helped
me to keep up my motivation to continue this journey until the end.
Tübingen Franziskus von Lucke
29.02.2020
Praise for The Securitisation of Climate Change and
the Governmentalisation of Security
“In this important book, Franziskus von Lucke provides a theoretically sophisti-
cated and empirically rich account of the relationship between security and climate
change. Developing a Foucauldian-inspired account of securitization, the book
rejects blanket or universal claims about the climate change–security relationship,
instead insisting on the need to critically examine how the securitization of climate
change plays out in particular empirical contexts. Exploring the cases of the US,
Germany and Mexico, von Lucke points to distinctive dynamics of securitization
in these settings, with different implications for the practices these in turn encour-
age. Ultimately, this book constitutes an important addition to literature on the
relationship between climate change and security, while developing a distinct and
nuanced account of securitization that will be of interest to a wide range of schol-
ars of security in international relations.”
—Associate Professor Matt McDonald is a Reader in International Relations at
the University of Queensland, Australia
“In 2019 a number of states and other actors (notably the European Union) have
made climate emergency declarations. It is therefore more important than ever to
understand what the securitization of the climate means. That is: Who can securi-
tize? What security measures are likely/deemed legitimate by relevant audiences?
How does securitization affect the population within and outside a securitizing
state? And perhaps most importantly of all, will it succeed? Franziskus von Lucke’s
carefully researched book offers answers to all of these questions and many others
besides. von Lucke proceeds by examining with the US, Mexico and Germany,
three real-life empirical cases of climate securitization. Each one provides unique
insights that enable a fuller understanding of climate security. Accessibly written
this is a must read for scholars and practitioners alike.”
—Dr Rita Floyd, University of Birmingham, UK, author of The Morality of
Security: A theory of just Securitization, 2019
“With great empirical detail and conceptual clarity, the book compares discourses
and practices of climate security in different contexts. An essential reading for any-
one interested in international climate politics, securitization theory, governmen-
tality and the notion of power in International Relations.”
—Dr Delf Rothe, Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy Hamburg
at the University of Hamburg, Germany
c
ontents
1 I ntroduction and Theoretical Framework 1
2 United States: Climate Change, National Security
and the Climatisation of the Defence Sector 59
3 Germany: Climate Change, Human Security
and Southern Populations 117
4 Mexico: Analysing Securitisation in the Global South 177
5 Revisiting the Securitisation of Climate Change
and the Governmentalisation of Security 225
Index 279
ix
A A
bout the uthor
Franziskus von Lucke is a researcher in International Relations at the
University of Tübingen. His research focuses on critical security studies,
climate politics and climate justice, and he has worked extensively on the
securitisation of climate change. His works have appeared in
Geopolitics, the Journal of International Relations and Development and in
the Zeitschrift für Internationale Beziehungen.
xi