210121 SE M8: Gender and Politics (2020W)

Security has become the catchphrase of our uncertain times. In the context of a multitude of interrelated crises over the last few decades, security has become the top priority of national and supranational politics. Security considerations shape various political areas, be it with regard to the latest migration movements ('border security'), the use of modern technologies ('data security') and, last but not least, the corona pandemic ('health security'). In the political and academic mainstream, security is primarily understood as "protection against threats"; it is considered a prerequisite for 'individual freedom' and thus the basis of liberal democracies.

Contrary to these power- and gender-blind ideas, in this seminar we will deal with the following questions from a critical social theory perspective: How are 'security' and 'insecurity' socially constructed? Which people and groups enjoy which forms of protection and security and which ones are deprived of them (e.g. insufficient medical care for refugees, police violence against people of color, precariously employed 24-hour-care-workers)? To what extent is insecurity gendered, class-based, and racialized? Which groups and their practices are classified as 'unsafe' or 'threatening' (e.g., body practices of queer and/or Muslim people) and how are they regulated (e.g. forcing non-heteronormative lives into the 'private' sphere, legal prohibitions)? What role does the state play in the construction of group-related security and insecurity? Which political practices may offer a way out of the securitization of the society?

These and similar questions will be discussed based on the works of feminist scholars and will be illustrated using empirical examples. The aim is to provide students with theoretical-analytical approaches that illuminate the social construction, reproduction, and unequal distribution of (in) security in a power and gender-critical way. We understand (in)security is as both effect and means of social inequality as well as technology of government. In this context, we will also deal with the feminist practice of 'shared care' as a way out of the securitization of social conditions.

Another aim of the course is to convey norms and practices of academic work. Special attention will be paid to the critical examination and writing of academic texts.