Rethinking the infodemic: global health security and information disorder

The discourse on the infodemic constructs the combination of the pandemic and disinformation as a new source of insecurity on a global scale. How can we make sense – analytically and politically– of this newly politicized nexus of public health, information management, and global security? This article proposes approaching the phenomenon of the infodemic as an intersecting securitization of information disorder and health governance. Specifically, it argues that there are two distinct frames of security mobilized in the context of infodemic governance: information as a disease and information as a weapon. Drawing on literatures on global health and the emerging research on disinformation, the paper situates the two framings of the infodemic in broader discourses on the medicalization of security, and securitization of information disorder, respectively. The article critically reflects on each framing and offers some preliminary thoughts on how to approach the entanglements of health, security, and information disorder in contemporary global politics

How to Study Gender in International Security? An Introduction to Feminist Security Studies

Thinking on war, violence and security has always been associated with concepts of femininity and masculinity. Similarly, wars and political transformations also change the notions of the roles of women and men in society. This article shows how the links between gender identities and threat construction, understanding of aggression, or social sensitivity to di!erent types of victims of violence can be studied academically. It introduces feminist security studies, embeds it in the research of international relations and security, and encourages its development in the Czech academic environment. The article introduces key concepts and methods of studying gender in (international) security, identifies key themes in feminist security research, and explains various approaches and types of questions that can be investigated in this area

Socially responsible innovation in security. Critical reflections

Book review on: Socially Responsible Innovation in Security: Critical Reflections, by Burgess, J. P., Reniers, G., Ponnet, K., Hardyns, W., & Smit, W. (Eds.), London and New York: Routledge, 2018, ISBN 9780815371397

Science, technology, security: towards critical collaboration

Science and technology play a central role in the contemporary governance of security, both as tools for the production of security and as objects of security concern. Scholars are increasingly seeking to not only critically reflect on the interplays between science, technology and security, but also engage with the practices of security communities that shape and are shaped by science and technology. To further help this growth of interest in security topics within science and technology studies (STS), we explore possible modes of socio-technical collaboration with security communities of practice. Bringing together literatures from STS and critical security studies, we identify several key challenges to critical social engagement of STS scholars in security-related issues. We then demonstrate how these challenges played out over the course of three case studies from our own experience in engaging security communities of practice. We use these vignettes to show that there is a rich vein of developments in both theory and practice that STS scholars can pursue by attending to the interplay of science, technology and security

Politika biologické (ne)bezpečnosti: věda, experti a dilema dvojího užití

Tato práce zkoumá politiku tzv. biologické bezpečnosti a regulaci výzkumu dvojího užití. Zaměřuje na vědy o živé přírodě, jejichž rychlý rozvoj přináší nové obavy spojující témata biologických zbraní, terorismu a regulace vědeckých inovací. Práce má tři dílčí cíle: zaprvé, situovat současné dilema výzkumu dvojího užití historicky a koncepčně, zadruhé, analyzovat, jaký dopad mají snahy regulovat biologickou bezpečnost a výzkum dvojího užití na vztahy mezi vědou a bezpečností, a zatřetí, diskutovat, jaké jsou důsledky tohoto nového propojení vědy a bezpečnosti pro politiku bezpečnosti a nebezpečnosti. Práce přistupuje k tématu z pozice kritických bezpečnostních studií a studuje, jak je propojení mezi vědou a bezpečností konstruováno určitými technikami vládnutí, jež integrují různé praktiky do uchopitelného problému a strukturují vztahy mezi vědou a bezpečností. Práce zkoumá dominantní politický a expertní diskurz o biologické bezpečnosti a dále dvě empirické oblasti, které ilustrují, jak je hranice vědy a bezpečnosti řízena v "globálním" a "lokálním" kontextu: v rámci mezinárodního režimu zákazu biologických zbraní a v českém systému biologické bezpečnosti. Výsledky práce ukazují, že snahy zabezpečit výzkum dvojího užití se zaměřují nejen na regulaci materiálů a technologií, ale také vědecké znalosti. Práce...This thesis explores the politics of biosecurity and the governance of dual-use research. It focuses on life sciences, whose rapid development brings together the issues of biological weapons, terrorism, and the dangers of scientific innovations. The thesis has three goals: first, to situate the dilemma of dual-use research historically and conceptually, second, to analyse how the attempts to govern biosecurity and regulate dual-use research in life sciences affect the relations between science and security, and third, to discuss what implications this science-security nexus has for the politics of (in)security. Approaching the subject from critical security studies, the thesis looks at how the nexus between science and security is constructed. It does so, first, by exploring the dominant political and expert discourses on biosecurity and by looking at two distinct empirical sites, which exemplify how a regime of biosecurity governance evolves at a boundary of science and security in a 'global' and 'local' context: the international biological weapons regime and the Czech system of biosecurity management. The thesis finds that the attempts to govern dual-use research in life sciences focus not only on materials and technologies but also on scientific knowledge. It conceptualizes dual-use as a problem of...Department of International RelationsKatedra mezinárodních vztahůFakulta sociálních vědFaculty of Social Science

The Politics of Bio(in)security: science, experts and the dilemma of dual use

This thesis explores the politics of biosecurity and the governance of dual-use research. It focuses on life sciences, whose rapid development brings together the issues of biological weapons, terrorism, and the dangers of scientific innovations. The thesis has three goals: first, to situate the dilemma of dual-use research historically and conceptually, second, to analyse how the attempts to govern biosecurity and regulate dual-use research in life sciences affect the relations between science and security, and third, to discuss what implications this science-security nexus has for the politics of (in)security. Approaching the subject from critical security studies, the thesis looks at how the nexus between science and security is constructed. It does so, first, by exploring the dominant political and expert discourses on biosecurity and by looking at two distinct empirical sites, which exemplify how a regime of biosecurity governance evolves at a boundary of science and security in a 'global' and 'local' context: the international biological weapons regime and the Czech system of biosecurity management. The thesis finds that the attempts to govern dual-use research in life sciences focus not only on materials and technologies but also on scientific knowledge. It conceptualizes dual-use as a problem of..

The Climate Crisis is a Social Crisis

It is time to place under critical scrutiny the cultural capacity that affects the way climate change is debated and regulated