Security Paradoxes – When Subjective and Objective Security Diverge

Paradoxes of security describe instances where improvements in measurable security are paralleled by decreasing subjective security or decreasing objective security parallels increasing subjective security. This opening workshop of a new three-year project will bring together scholars from political science, criminology, sociology, and anthropology to discuss the theoretical frame of security paradoxes and discuss its real-world implications. The participants will examine which political developments (change of power, restauration of state authority, arrival of new armed groups, deployment of peacekeepers, etc.) lead to paradoxical effects on security. They will delve into the detailed processes which make measurable security diverge from people’s perceptions of security. The workshop will include a public debate with German foreign policy makers, the media and civil society. Possible academic outcomes of the workshop range from a GIGA working paper co-authored by all participants to a special issue journal contribution. The workshop will be followed up by at least one further meeting over the coming three years to pursue the discussion and its chosen output.