B.A. (Barbara) Gruber, MA

The Psychologisation of Security through Resilience

Resilience became ubiquitous in Inter/national security strategies. While the concept and the term are ambiguous, most authors highlight the socio-ecological background and mention the mechanical definition (“bounce-back”). Especially the socio-ecological background was researched through genealogical approaches and was connected to complexity theory.

However, the psychological background and strand of resilience research has so far been neglected in Critical Security Studies, although the conception of resilience as a process and thus as something learnable derives from a psychological understanding. This project asks for the influence of the psychological understanding of resilience in inter/national security strategies.

It is guided by the hypotheses that especially through the emergence of counter-terrorism strategies after the Cold War resilience as population-centric security provision rose to its current prominence. This project additionally asks for the benefits and pitfalls of engaging psychological resilience in the realm of security and politics. 

Publications

Peer-reviewed Journals

• 2016, (with Jan Pospisil), ‘Resilience and the Transformation of Sovereign Security: A Look at Policy Challenges and Interests’, Resilience: International Policies, Practices and Discourses, 4:3, 202-216.
• 2015, (with Jan Pospisil), ‘Ser Eleno’: Insurgent Identity Formation in the ELN’, Small Wars & Insurgencies, 26:2, 226-247.

Working Papers

• (2017), The Difference Resilience Makes. US National Preparedness - From Civil Defence to Resilience, oiip-working paper no. 93, February 2017, Vienna: oiip.