Understanding Identity-Security Nexus: Social Identity, Social Psychology and The Inter-Societal Security Dilemma

Abstract

The post-Cold War and post-9/11 world politics opened promising new avenues of research, debates and approaches down which to travel. This article revisits one particular avenue; the Copenhagen School's concept of societal security and re-evaluates one of the oldest concepts in security studies: the security dilemma in the context of identity-security nexus. The article has two claims. First, exploring social conflicts necessitates studying the dynamics of group identity and visiting the discipline of social psychology. By using such an interdisciplinary approach the article offers a better understanding of the dynamics of societal insecurity and insecure identities. In this context, it critically engages with Paul Roe's theory of the inter-societal security dilemma. Secondly, the article argues that the inter-societal security dilemma approach has a gap in its fourfold analytical framework. To fill the gap, the present study employs an intervening variable, a new concept gleaned from social psychology, namely 'confrontation' to better explain why societies fight.