Solidarity through Security?

Following a phase of accelerated integration, which was accompanied by enthusiasm for the European Union (EU) in some regions and parts of society, current debates concerning Europe are shaped by crisis discourses. In times of multiple crises, ranging from Brexit to climate change and the COVID-19 pandemic, European institutions and states are increasingly emphasizing the EU’s role as a security provider in uncertain times with the aim of promoting solidarity within and among European societies. ZUSE investigates the political framing, administrative implementation and societal effects of security as a potential novel guiding narrative of European integration.

The objective of this interdisciplinary research project is a more nuanced and differentiated understanding of security as a guiding concept of European solidarity and cohesion. ZUSE thus also contributes to the search for more diversity-centred conceptions of security that avoid exclusionary effects and the promotion of discourses of fear.