Security studies have given surprisingly little attention to cultural diversity as a constituent factor in the overall dynamics of security management. A case in point is that securitization theory still refers to cultural differences mainly as a source for conflict and therefore as an object of securitization. So far, cultural codes, linguistic barriers, and processes of self-identification did not constitute an important aspect of analysis. Culture as a value based concept and as a group marker, however, is not per se a primary source of conflict. Rather, culture appears as a symbol over and through which security concerns are articulated. Therefore, in multi-cultural societies cultural affiliation plays a crucial role in pre-structuring audiences and security agendas.

Addressing this emerging field of interdisciplinary security studies, this lecture is a lead-up to a day-long Graduate Student Workshop on Thursday, October 12. While the workshop is especially intended to Master's and Ph.D. students in GSPIA, History, and Political Science, all are welcome. To sign up, please contact Zsuzsánna Magdó, Assistant Director for Partnerships and Programs by September 29.

Since 2007, Peter Haslinger has been the Director of the Herder Institut for Historical Research on East-Central Europe in Marburg, Professor of East-Central European History at the Historical Institute of the Justus Liebig University and the Interdisciplinary Center for Eastern Europe in Gießen (GiZo). His research and teaching focuses on forced migrations and expulsions; the minority question; nationalism, regionalism, language policies; memory, museification, and the politics of history; security and violence studies; the spatial turn and the history of cartography; and the history of discourse and scientific communication. For a list of publications and awards, see https://www.herder-institut.de/en/institute-staff/staff/personen/ansehen....

This lecture is part of the REES Fall Series: Eastern Europe in the World.