This week I will present my latest research project on Social distance in IR for the first time to, hopefully, a critical audience at the conference of the International Relations section of the German Political Science Association (DVPW) in Bremen.
You can find me, Thursday morning, Oct. 5, room SFG 2030.
| Far away and Unknown: On Social Distance in Security Governance |
| In this paper I introduce the concept of ‘social distance’ to the study of security governance. As a concept, social distance derives from social psychology and denotes that ‘distance’ – temporal, cultural, spatial, and hypothetical – influences subjective experiences. Known as construal level theory, studies have shown that mental representations of distal events are more abstract, thereby moderating emotional stimuli and thus affect, preferences, and action. Bringing this concept into the field of security governance I explore the following question: How does social distance influence and shape security discourses and practices in relation to the organisation of humanitarian interventions? |
Hilde van Meegdenburg 