‘Hambi bleibt!’ - Securitizing the Environment A case study of discursive threat-construction surrounding the Hambach Forest LISA BECKER Peace and Conflict Studies Bachelor’s degree Spring 2019 Supervisor: John Åberg Word count: 14070 ABSTRACT Although issues linked to global environmental change and its role within peace, conflict and security have been subject to social and political controversy for years, they are still not sufficiently respected by energy companies, trade unions, national governments and international institutions alike. Through applying the tools of a single instrumental case study linked to the application of discourse analysis I, this study explores the process of securitization of the environment in the extraordinary case of the resistance and occupation surrounding the Hambach Forest, thereby countering the widely held assumption that collective action aimed at radically changing existing structures is not possible. The particular exploratory focus is put on the way this non-conventional environmental security discourse has been created within a redefined securitization framework. By challenging the traditional focus of securitization theory on top-down construction through elites, this study provides a broadened, bottom-up account of environmental securitization stemming from local civil society actors as non- powerholders that effectively proclaim their recognition of the environment’s intrinsic value from a grassroots level. Consequently, it argues for the significance of securitization as creative process of alerting policy makers, political leaders and the broader society to the emergency of climate change and global environmental degradation symbolized through the specific case of Hambach Forest. Key words: securitization, environment, civil society actors, Hambach Forest, bottom-up approach, discourse analysis - 2 - Table of Contents LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS ............................................................................................... - 5 - LIST OF FIGURES ............................................................................................................... - 5 - 1. Introduction ................................................................................................................... - 6 - 1.1. Research Problem .................................................................................................. - 6 - 1.2. Research Aim and Research Question(s) .............................................................. - 7 - 1.3. Relevance for the Field of Peace and Conflict Studies ......................................... - 9 - 1.1. (De)Limitations ................................................................................................... - 10 - 1.2. Disposition .......................................................................................................... - 10 - 2. Background ................................................................................................................. - 12 - 2.1. The Role of the Hambach Forest within the Climate Justice Movement ........... - 12 - 2.2. The Hambach Forest ........................................................................................... - 13 - 3. Previous Research ....................................................................................................... - 16 - 3.1. The Concept of ‘Security’ ................................................................................... - 16 - 3.2. The Shift from National Security to Human Security and the Consequences for the Environment ........................................................................................................ - 17 - 3.3. Securitizing the Environment .............................................................................. - 19 - 4. Analytical Framework ................................................................................................. - 22 - 4.1. The Copenhagen School’s Theory of Securitization ........................................... - 22 - 4.2. Challenging CS Within the Context of This Study ............................................. - 24 - 4.3. A Broadened Framework for Analysis ................................................................ - 26 - 5. Methodological Framework ........................................................................................ - 29 - 5.1. Research Design .................................................................................................. - 29 - 5.2. Method ................................................................................................................ - 30 - 5.3. Material ............................................................................................................... - 33 - 5.4. Reflection on the Linkage between Research Design and Method within the Analytical Framework of Securitization ............................................................. - 35 - 5.5. Researcher’s Own Positioning ............................................................................ - 36 - 6. Analysis ....................................................................................................................... - 38 - 6.1. Analysis Part I – Themes, expressions, visual representations ........................... - 38 - 6.2. Analysis Part II – Analyzing the Discourses in Light of the Broadened Securitization Framework .......................................................................................................... - 42 - 7. Conclusion ................................................................................................................... - 47 - 7.1. Concluding Remarks and Answering the Research Question ............................. - 47 - 7.2. Further research ................................................................................................... - 48 - - 3 - 8. Reference list ............................................................................................................... - 50 - - 4 - LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CS Copenhagen School HAMBI The Hambach Forest EU European Union PACS Peace and Conflict Studies RWE Rhenish-Westphalian Power Plant UN United Nations Organization UNDP United Nations Development Program LIST OF FIGURES Cover Page Occupation of the Hambach Forest Figure 1: Road barricades erected by environmental activists - 15 - Figure 2: Hambach Forest vs. Hambach Surface Mine - 44 - - 5 - 1. Introduction “Because, underneath all of this is the real truth we have been avoiding: climate change isn’t an “issue” to add to the list of things to worry about, next to health care and taxes. It is a civilizational wake-up call. A powerful message—spoken in the language of fires, floods, droughts, and extinctions—telling us that we need an entirely new economic model and a new way of sharing this planet. Telling us that we need to evolve.” – Naomi Klein Voices like this, articulating the need to radically and immediately address the growing emissions of greenhouse gases leading to global warming, loss of biodiversity and severe disruptions of ecosystems are becoming increasingly pressing. All human societies are depending on a functioning climate system due to the countless interconnections between people (social systems), animals and plants (natural systems) as well as livelihood opportunities (economic systems) worldwide. Since the basic structure of the planet’s climate system is being altered by mankind in unprecedented pace and scale, the functioning of healthy ecosystems is increasingly being threatened, leading to irreversible consequences if left unchecked (Mathews, 1989:163-169; Gemenne et al., 2014:7). Although issues linked to global environmental change and its role within peace, conflict and security have been subject to social and political controversy for years, they are still not sufficiently respected by energy companies, trade unions, national governments and international institutions alike. Considering the widely held assumption that ‘individual and collective action to radically transform existing systems and structures is not possible’ (O’Brien, Barnett, 2013:284-385), the problem becomes whether structures and systems contributing to the tremendous changes will be changed voluntarily or if ‘structural change will be enforced violently and randomly by environmental crisis’ (Buzan et al., 1998:595). 1.1. Research Problem Recent years have produced a significant body of research, demonstrating that global environmental change will have dramatic impacts on social systems and pose a fundamental threat to human security (Barnett, Adger, 2007:640; O’Brien, Barnett, 2013:379). While climate change might not compose an immediate threat to national security at present (Gemenne et al., 2014:7), the UN aims at avoiding ‘dangerous’ interference in the climate system, thereby defining environmental degradation and climate change as a significant risk to security (Barnett, Adger,2007:640). However, an ‘oversimplified representation of security concerns linked to - 6 - global environmental change can lead to counterproductive [mitigation and adaptation] policy responses’, which often ignore the problems’ root causes (O’Brien, Barnett,2013:379). Thus, a new perspective of global environmental change and security beyond the understanding of environmental security as protecting ‘the maintenance of achieved levels of civilization’ from environmental threats, is needed (Buzan et al., 1998:76). Instead, it must change towards the recognition of the environment’s