Nina Klimburg-Witjes
Biographic Data
| ID | 904697 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Nina Klimburg-Witjes |
| GIVEN NAMES | Nina |
| FAMILY NAME | Klimburg-Witjes |
| SIGNATURE | KLIMBURG-WITJES N |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Vienna |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-0583-8788 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 9 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 30 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 8 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2021 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
Multiplying Elements of Fragmentation? Polycentrism, the Launcher Crisis and the Future of Europe in Space
This article explores the current controversies surrounding the European Ariane launcher and its implications for the future of European space governance. The Ariane program, historically a symbol of European technopolitical integration, faces mounting challenges due to delays, rising costs and increasing competition from private actors like SpaceX. These tensions have led to debates on the future of European space policy, particularly the balanc…
A Rocket to Protect? Sociotechnical Imaginaries of Strategic Autonomy in Controversies About the European Rocket Program
When we think about European integration practices, we rarely consider how they may extend to outer space. Yet, a new global space race is in full swing, in which commercial and government actors worldwide are putting forward bold visions of human futures in outer space. Europe is at the cusp of deciding which role to play in this new Space Age, with the European rocket program Ariane being at the centre of many debates about the future of Europe…
The Security-Innovation Nexus in (Geo-)Political Imagination
Security and innovation have become increasingly entangled at the level of political rationalities, imagination, and material practice, forming what we conceptualise as the 'nexus of security-innovation'. The extension of and various shifts in this nexus merit critical attention, as it engenders the emergence of new technopolitical issues, conflicts, and novel sets of actors involved. This article constitutes both an Introduction and an individua…
Expanding boundaries: Unmaking and remaking secrecy in field research
This paper empirically retraces and conceptualizes secrecy in the study of security. Building on 27 qualitative, semi-structured interviews with social scientists about their field research experiences, we use Gieryn’s concept of “boundary work” to rethink secrecy not as a self-evident separator between clearly demarcated spheres but as something that is negotiated, suspended, or circumvented in social situations. A boundary perspective allows us…
Troubled Orbits and Earthly Concerns: Space Debris as a Boundary Infrastructure
Like other forms of debris in terrestrial and marine environments, space debris prompts questions about how we can live with the material remains of technological endeavors past and yet to come. Although techno-societies fundamentally rely on space infrastructures, they so far have failed to address the infrastructural challenge of debris. Only very recently has the awareness of space debris as a severe risk to both space and Earth infrastructure…
Contextualizing Security Innovation: Responsible Research and Innovation at the Smart Border
Current European innovation and security policies are increasingly channeled into efforts to address the assumed challenges that threaten European societies. A field in which this has become particularly salient is digitized EU border management. Here, the framework of responsible research and innovation (RRI) has recently been used to point to the alleged sensitivity of political actors towards the contingent dimensions of emerging security tech…
Sensing In/Security: Sensors as Transnational Security Infrastructures
Sensing In/Security: Sensors as Transnational Security Infrastructures investigates how sensors and sensing practices enact regimes of security and insecurity. It extends long-standing concerns with infrastructuring to emergent modes of surveillance and control by exploring how digitally networked sensors shape securitisation practices. Contributions in this volume examine how sensing devices gain political and epistemic relevance in various form…
Island Imaginaries: Introduction to a Special Section
Colonial empires, scientists, philanthropists and Hollywood studios have long sustained an image of islands as remote places with unique ecologies and cultures, experimental labs, or loci of escapism. The climate crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic have contributed to a predominant view of islands as both exceptional spaces and testbeds to be scaled up onto continental or planetary levels. Likewise, the metaphor of the island is foundational to West…
Hacking Humans? Social Engineering and the Construction of the "Deficient User" in Cybersecurity Discourses
Today, social engineering techniques are the most common way of committing cybercrimes through the intrusion and infection of computer systems. Cybersecurity experts use the term "social engineering" to highlight the "human factor" in digitized systems, as social engineering attacks aim at manipulating people to reveal sensitive information. In this paper, we explore how discursive framings of individual versus collective security by cybersecurit…
Island Imaginaries: Introduction to a Special Section
Colonial empires, scientists, philanthropists and Hollywood studios have long sustained an image of islands as remote places with unique ecologies and cultures, experimental labs, or loci of escapism. The climate crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic have contributed to a predominant view of islands as both exceptional spaces and testbeds to be scaled up onto continental or planetary levels. Likewise, the metaphor of the island is foundational to West…
A Rocket to Protect? Sociotechnical Imaginaries of Strategic Autonomy in Controversies About the European Rocket Program
When we think about European integration practices, we rarely consider how they may extend to outer space. Yet, a new global space race is in full swing, in which commercial and government actors worldwide are putting forward bold visions of human futures in outer space. Europe is at the cusp of deciding which role to play in this new Space Age, with the European rocket program Ariane being at the centre of many debates about the future of Europe…
The Security-Innovation Nexus in (Geo-)Political Imagination
Security and innovation have become increasingly entangled at the level of political rationalities, imagination, and material practice, forming what we conceptualise as the 'nexus of security-innovation'. The extension of and various shifts in this nexus merit critical attention, as it engenders the emergence of new technopolitical issues, conflicts, and novel sets of actors involved. This article constitutes both an Introduction and an individua…
Troubled Orbits and Earthly Concerns: Space Debris as a Boundary Infrastructure
Like other forms of debris in terrestrial and marine environments, space debris prompts questions about how we can live with the material remains of technological endeavors past and yet to come. Although techno-societies fundamentally rely on space infrastructures, they so far have failed to address the infrastructural challenge of debris. Only very recently has the awareness of space debris as a severe risk to both space and Earth infrastructure…
Hacking Humans? Social Engineering and the Construction of the "Deficient User" in Cybersecurity Discourses
Today, social engineering techniques are the most common way of committing cybercrimes through the intrusion and infection of computer systems. Cybersecurity experts use the term "social engineering" to highlight the "human factor" in digitized systems, as social engineering attacks aim at manipulating people to reveal sensitive information. In this paper, we explore how discursive framings of individual versus collective security by cybersecurit…
Contextualizing Security Innovation: Responsible Research and Innovation at the Smart Border
Current European innovation and security policies are increasingly channeled into efforts to address the assumed challenges that threaten European societies. A field in which this has become particularly salient is digitized EU border management. Here, the framework of responsible research and innovation (RRI) has recently been used to point to the alleged sensitivity of political actors towards the contingent dimensions of emerging security tech…
Sensing In/Security: Sensors as Transnational Security Infrastructures
Sensing In/Security: Sensors as Transnational Security Infrastructures investigates how sensors and sensing practices enact regimes of security and insecurity. It extends long-standing concerns with infrastructuring to emergent modes of surveillance and control by exploring how digitally networked sensors shape securitisation practices. Contributions in this volume examine how sensing devices gain political and epistemic relevance in various form…
Island Imaginaries: Introduction to a Special Section
Colonial empires, scientists, philanthropists and Hollywood studios have long sustained an image of islands as remote places with unique ecologies and cultures, experimental labs, or loci of escapism. The climate crisis and the Covid-19 pandemic have contributed to a predominant view of islands as both exceptional spaces and testbeds to be scaled up onto continental or planetary levels. Likewise, the metaphor of the island is foundational to West…
Hacking Humans? Social Engineering and the Construction of the "Deficient User" in Cybersecurity Discourses
Today, social engineering techniques are the most common way of committing cybercrimes through the intrusion and infection of computer systems. Cybersecurity experts use the term "social engineering" to highlight the "human factor" in digitized systems, as social engineering attacks aim at manipulating people to reveal sensitive information. In this paper, we explore how discursive framings of individual versus collective security by cybersecurit…
Expanding boundaries: Unmaking and remaking secrecy in field research
This paper empirically retraces and conceptualizes secrecy in the study of security. Building on 27 qualitative, semi-structured interviews with social scientists about their field research experiences, we use Gieryn’s concept of “boundary work” to rethink secrecy not as a self-evident separator between clearly demarcated spheres but as something that is negotiated, suspended, or circumvented in social situations. A boundary perspective allows us…
Troubled Orbits and Earthly Concerns: Space Debris as a Boundary Infrastructure
Like other forms of debris in terrestrial and marine environments, space debris prompts questions about how we can live with the material remains of technological endeavors past and yet to come. Although techno-societies fundamentally rely on space infrastructures, they so far have failed to address the infrastructural challenge of debris. Only very recently has the awareness of space debris as a severe risk to both space and Earth infrastructure…
A Rocket to Protect? Sociotechnical Imaginaries of Strategic Autonomy in Controversies About the European Rocket Program
When we think about European integration practices, we rarely consider how they may extend to outer space. Yet, a new global space race is in full swing, in which commercial and government actors worldwide are putting forward bold visions of human futures in outer space. Europe is at the cusp of deciding which role to play in this new Space Age, with the European rocket program Ariane being at the centre of many debates about the future of Europe…
The Security-Innovation Nexus in (Geo-)Political Imagination
Security and innovation have become increasingly entangled at the level of political rationalities, imagination, and material practice, forming what we conceptualise as the 'nexus of security-innovation'. The extension of and various shifts in this nexus merit critical attention, as it engenders the emergence of new technopolitical issues, conflicts, and novel sets of actors involved. This article constitutes both an Introduction and an individua…
Multiplying Elements of Fragmentation? Polycentrism, the Launcher Crisis and the Future of Europe in Space
This article explores the current controversies surrounding the European Ariane launcher and its implications for the future of European space governance. The Ariane program, historically a symbol of European technopolitical integration, faces mounting challenges due to delays, rising costs and increasing competition from private actors like SpaceX. These tensions have led to debates on the future of European space policy, particularly the balanc…
Law (7 works) · Political science (7 works) · Sociology (7 works) · Computer Science (6 works) · Politics (6 works) · Global Security and Public Health (5 works) · Geopolitics (3 works) · Space exploration and regulation (3 works) · Space Science and Extraterrestrial Life (3 works) · Vision (3 works)