WORKSHOP: Emancipatory Dimensions of In:Security

Emancipatory Dimensions of In:Security

International Expert Workshop (online)

16 October 2024, 13.00 – 15.30 CET

ZOiS Berlin (Centre for East European and International Studies)

Convener: Nadja Douglas 

The full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has unveiled different dimensions of insecurity and vulnerability, particularly by imposing new constraints on the everyday life and freedom of different social groups, not only in Ukraine. The (re-)production of insecurity in everyday practices and interactions in the region has given rise to endeavours aimed at emancipation from subordination and deprivation, including in the broader security sphere. Feminist deterrence in the context of war and conflict, controversies around societal resilience, and security from war-induced poverty and environmental degradation are just some examples of emancipatory approaches and topics that have gained currency.

The notion of ‘security as emancipation’ has long been a focus of Critical Security Studies. It offers an informed critique of traditional views of security and dominant state-centric assumptions, adopting instead a normative approach that links security to the goal of emancipation. This approach is actively implemented, for example, through the Women, Peace and Security agenda based on UN Security Council Resolution 1325, which underlines the crucial role of women in conflict, peace and security processes. The ecological dimension of security, meanwhile, represents another major challenge in the face of war and climate change. These different dimensions all feed into the concept of human and societal security, often discussed in the context of the sustainable development agenda. So far, however, there has been too little differentiation between the needs, demands and aspirations of various groups. As part of the ongoing debate on critical and vernacular security, in this workshop we will seek to advance emancipatory framings of (in)security in relation to gender, class and ecology as well as local communities.

This workshop is the third of four in a series of workshops organised as part of the KonKoop In:Security topic line (https://konkoop.de/index.php/project/in-security-douglas/), which aims to question state-centric notions of security and insecurity in times of war and conflict and dismantle Eurocentric perspectives.

During the workshop, we would like to touch upon the following questions:

• Which issues related to the Women, Peace and Security agenda have gained traction in the region since 2022?
• How do de-colonial ideas shape the reality of contemporary security order(s) in Eastern Europe?
• In what ways has the war acted as a catalyst for a socio-ecological emancipation/ transformation, and in what ways has it contributed to further environmental degradation and insecurity?
• What are the different facets of societal and community resilience, what challenges do different forms of resilience face, and why are they contested?

Panels:

1. Emancipatory trajectories as a response to in:security since 2022 in academic debates and on the ground from a feminist and a de-colonial perspective

Míla O’Sullivan, Institute of International Relations, Charles University, Prague

Yuliya Yurchuk, Department of History and Contemporary Studies, Södertörn University, Stockholm

Chair: Nadja Douglas, ZOiS

2. The effects of the war on human and societal security in Ukraine – critical reflection on responses to war-induced environmental degradation and societal/community resilience

Eugene Simonov/Oleksiy Vasyliuk, Ukraine War Environmental Consequences Work Group

Tetiana Skrypchenko, Deputy Director, Rating Group Ukraine

Chair: Angelina Davydova, environmental/climate journalist, coordinator with the Dialogue for Understanding e.V., fellow at the Institute for Global Reconstitution

Report:

The Russian war of aggression has not only produced enormous atrocities and damage but also threatened societal progress and security in various domains, notably social equality, cohesion, gender, environmental standards, etc. These dimensions of in:security have been widely overlooked by the realist discourses and the emphasis on hard security issues and therefore deserve a separate debate. The third ZOiS KonKoop Workshop in the context of the thematic line “In:Security in Eastern Europe”, held on 16 October 2024, was thus dedicated to the feminist, post-/de-colonial, ecological and societal dimensions of security and insecurity, with a particular focus on Ukraine and beyond.

The intention was to examine, again from a vernacular or “bottom up” perspective, whether these dimensions do not also bear the potential to bring about some sort of recovery or liberating effect for the people on the ground, in terms of emancipation as a tool of resistance against authoritarianism and insecurity. The workshop brought together Ukrainian experts as well as one scholar from the Czech Republic, with both academic and practitioner backgrounds.

The first panel on emancipatory responses to in:security from a feminist and a de-colonial perspective set off with an input by Mila O’Sullivan from Charles University, Prague, who is a feminist scholar, studying the consequences of the Russian war on transforming gender relations. She observed that gender has become a central battlefield between an increasingly illiberal gender order that has manifested itself in Russia, and the Ukrainian experience of an emancipatory and liberalising trend with regard to gender discourses, having become a basis of resistance to the Russian invasion. On the downside, there has been a lack of progress with regard to progress in the advancement of the UN Woman, Peace and Security Agenda (WPS) in the context of the Russian war, with O’Sullivan arguing in favour of ‘gendering deterrence’. She noted that despite deterrence scholarship broadening beyond conventional military domains to social and political practices, it remained gender-blind so far.

The second contribution by Yuliya Yurchuk, historian from Södertorn University, Stockholm, reflected on the momentum postcolonial and decolonial discourses have gained in Ukraine since the beginning of the Russian military invasion. She elucidated the participants about the divergences in Ukraine on how decolonisation currently plays out on the official in contrast to the grassroots level. Moreover, she depicted decoloniality as an ongoing process of resistance and perceived as a condition for Ukraine’s victory in the war.

As part of the second panel, dedicated to the effects of the war on human and environ-mental security in Ukraine, Eugene Simonov and Oleksii Vasyliuk, environmentalists from the Ukrainian War Environmental Consequences Work Group, presented a compelling account of war damages on landscapes and ecosystems in Ukraine, with a particular focus on forests and lands. They drew attention to the difficulties of post-war recovery, but nevertheless presented opportunities of conversion for post-war ecosystems, such as re-establishing of ecosystems in the Kakhovka Reservoir and Velikyi Luh.

The last contribution by Tetiana Skrypchenko, sociologist from the Ukrainian sociological organisation“Rating Group”, emphasised the importance of the resilience prism in the context of societal responses to the war and the strengthening of societal cohesion in Ukraine. She drew on recent survey data among both Ukrainian civilian populations as well as military personnel. The results provided insights into the well-being of the most vulnerable social-demographic groups in Ukraine that need to cope with the increased level of stress and insecurity. She concluded with observing that the higher the level of resilience, the lower the stress and the better the adaptation to stressful events, noting that at least 20% of Ukrainians today are not adapted to stress and in need of psychosocial support.

An important takeaway from the ensuing discussions was that solutions on how to tackle these diverse war challenges clearly differ between the grassroots and the state institutional level but are not always complementary to each other. The event was moderated by the coordinator of the In:Security topic line Nadja Douglas (ZOiS) and Angelina Davydova (environmental/climate journalist, environmental projects coordinator with the Dialogue for Understanding e. V and fellow with the Institute for Global Reconstitution).