Collective Securitisation and Security Governance in the European Union

Collective Securitisation and Security Governance in the European Union presents an integrated theory of collective securitisation – a theoretical foundation for explaining how the process of collective securitisation sustains and makes effective an identifiable system of regional security governance.

The volume demonstrates the empirical utility of collective securitisation in the EU security space through a set of structured case studies focusing on the collective securitisation of terrorism, cyberspace, migration, energy, health and climate change. The contributions to this collection address three questions: Under what conditions does collective securitisation occur? How does collective securitisation affect the scope and domains of EU security governance? And how does collective securitisation explain the emergence of the EU system of security governance? This volume breaks new ground in the field of EU security studies and provides a theoretical orientation that contributes to our understanding of how and why the EU has developed as a security actor in the 21st century.

Developing and testing the theory of collective securitisation with reference to some of the most pressing contemporary security issues, Collective Securitisation and Security Governance in the European Union will be of great interest to scholars of the European Union and Security Studies. The chapters were originally published as a special issue of West European Politics.

Sonia Lucarelli is Associate Professor of International Relations and Pan-European Security at the University of Bologna and Director of Research at the Forum on the Problems of Peace and War in Florence. Her articles have appeared in the Journal of Common Market Studies, Journal of International Relations and Development, European Security and European Foreign Affairs Review.

James Sperling is Professor of Political Science, University of Akron. His articles have appeared in the British Journal of Political Science, International Affairs, International Organization, Journal of European Public Policy and Review of International Studies.

Mark Webber is Professor of International Politics at the University of Birmingham. His articles have appeared in European Security, European Foreign Affairs Review, International Affairs, International Relations, British Journal of Politics and International Relations, Civil Wars and Review of International Studies.