Geopolitical Caesuras as Time-Space-Anchors of Ontological (In)security

The Case of the Fall of the Berlin Wall

Bibliographic Data

ID3948700
AuthorsCarolin Genz (0000-0002-8074-8339, Department of Geography, Cultural and Social Geography, Humboldt-University of Berlin, Berlin, Brandenburg, Germany), L Pohl (0000-0002-7944-301X, Department of Geography, Cultural and Social Geography, Humboldt-University of Berlin, Berlin, Brandenburg, Germany), Janina Dobrusskin (0000-0002-3529-9650, Department of Geography, Cultural and Social Geography, Humboldt-University of Berlin, Berlin, Brandenburg, Germany), I Helbrecht (0000-0001-6992-6002, Department of Geography, Cultural and Social Geography, Humboldt-University of Berlin, Berlin, Brandenburg, Germany)
Year2023
Volume28
Issue1
Pages392-415
Publication date2023-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueGeopolitics (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1465-0045 • E-ISSN: 1557-3028
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/14650045.2021.1912021
OpenAlexW3152522866
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited68

The paper reviews the concept of ontological (in)security as an analytical tool to shed light on (dis)continuous narratives of selfhood engendered by geopolitics. It contributes to a growing body of empirically grounded research by addressing the necessity of a multi-dimensional understanding of individuals’ senses of ontological (in)security. The paper is based on qualitative research conducted in Berlin with participants of various age groups and argues that ontological security and insecurity are negotiated through spatial and temporal means. It demonstrates that geopolitical caesuras, as powerful intergenerational geographical imaginations, function as time-space anchors of ontological (in)security. It further studies this multi-dimensionality by conceptualising temporal and spatial means of ontological (in)security and their relational interconnectedness to unsettle the binaries of global and local, and past and present. Finally, this paper recommends reconsidering the usage of ontological (in)security as an analytical tool to mobilise a feminist approach towards geopolitics

Epistemology · Function (biology · Geopolitics · Narrative · Ontological security · Political science · Politics · Security studies · Social science · Sociology · Computer Science · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Geographies of human-animal interactions · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Law · Philosophy

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