Books by Kathryn Fisher
This book explores the interrelation of discourse, identity and security. Anchored by an investig... more This book explores the interrelation of discourse, identity and security. Anchored by an investigation of British counterterrorism and official discourse from 1968, it posits that social constructions of identity did not determine what actions were taken, but did shape the conditions of possibility within which such actions took place. The UK Counter-Terrorism and Security Act received Royal Assent in February 2015, with new measures recently proposed by Australia, Belgium, Kenya, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the United States. There is a need for continued research into the substance and legitimation of counterterrorism, considering its clear ethical and strategic implications. Given the ongoing situations of insecurity, and a persistent lack of clarity on what counterterrorism success would mean, it is essential that we investigate how security practices have come into existence so that we may be better equipped intellectually and in practice in our efforts countering terror.
Reviews:
'An original, wide-ranging, and deeply thoughtful book. It draws on historical context as well as sophisticated theoretical arguments, and it offers a very valuable analysis of an important subject.' – Professor Richard English, University of St Andrews, UK
'Fisher's theoretically sophisticated and empirically rich genealogy brings vital historical depth to existing discursive work on the politics of identity within counterterrorism policy. This outstanding new text forces readers to rethink the ways in which claims to belonging and exclusion are put together, evolve, and matter for formulating and normalising responses to terrorist violence and related security challenges.' – Dr Lee Jarvis, University of East Anglia, UK
'How we perceive danger, and what we do about it, defines our identity. Fisher's book shows how we construct ourselves through the conduct of security. Using solid and clear evidence, she demonstrates that actions and statements build group identities – through the process of drawing boundaries between 'us' and 'them'.' – Dr Sherrill Stroschein, University College London, UK
Table of Contents:
PART I: SETTING THE SCENE
1. Counterterrorism, Identity, (In)security
1. Counterterrorism, Identity, (In)security
2. Considering Contexts
3. To Identify Terrorism – a Consequential Ambiguity
PART II: A STORY OF BRITISH COUNTERTERRORISM AND IDENTITY
4. Preserving Peace and Maintaining Order, 1968-1978
5. Criminalizing Terrorism, 1979-1989
6. Shifting Legal Durability, 1990-1999
7. Amplifying 21st Century Exception, 2000-2006
8. A Plateau of Exceptionality, 2007-2011
PART III: REFLECTING AND LOOKING AHEAD
9. (Starting) Conclusions
Terrorism and Political Violence, 2017
Review by Ryan Shaffer of six academic books on state and non-state conflict, to include Security... more Review by Ryan Shaffer of six academic books on state and non-state conflict, to include Security, Identity, and British Counterterrorism (Fisher, 2015).
Papers by Kathryn Fisher
International Relations, 2022
The 2018 United States (US) National Military Strategy claimed that professional military educati... more The 2018 United States (US) National Military Strategy claimed that professional military education (PME) in the US had ‘stagnated’. Since then the 2020 US Joint Chiefs of Staff publication Developing Today’s Joint Officer’s for Tomorrow’s Ways of War can be seen as a direct response to such stagnation. The associated temporal positionings of war from stagnation, to today’s officers, to tomorrow’s ways of war, reinforce the significance of wartime in how professional military education is framed. In this paper I ask: To what extent does professional military education rely on frames of wartime for its construction of purpose, what are the potential limitations from such framings to goals of minimizing violence and suffering, and how may such potential limitations be engaged in the classroom? A focus on wartime can help us draw out significant strategic and ethical challenges of conflict termination alongside ‘forever wars’, the normalization of exceptional security practices and violence, and the way in which prioritizations of either doing war ‘better’ or minimizing the likelihood of war are in seemingly direct epistemological competition. Given a goal of less insecurity, in an era in which fewer and fewer wars actually ‘end’ or ‘end’ with a sense of victory, I assess the extent to which engaging critical approaches in PME may help or hinder the need to challenge self-propagating dynamics of wartime that may be limiting efforts at lessening violence.
This thesis is an exploration into the consequential interrelation of official British discourse,... more This thesis is an exploration into the consequential interrelation of official British discourse, identity, securitization, and counterterrorism from 1968 to 2011. Through a relational-securitization approach, the thesis narrative explains how discourse is both constitutive and causal for outcomes in a particular case. It is a relational mechanism based analysis that investigates how observed rhetorical commonplaces came together to influence intersubjective understanding and security practice. The ways that identities were temporarily stabilized across discourse through particular configurations was essential to how British counterterrorism emerged, was maintained, and became normalized. The thesis does not argue that possible insecurities categorized as “terrorism” do not exist, or that a security response is in itself surprising. However, how this response unfolded was not predetermined, and instead depended upon a securitization of terrorism along distinctive patterns of us/them construction. These patterns influenced the trajectory of counterterrorism by enabling certain outcomes to arise over others. Collective understandings of identity shape the conditions of possibility for political action. As such, discourses of securitization have a causal impact over intersubjective understanding and counterterrorism ractice. Historical moments, such as the 1974 Birmingham pub bombings or 11 September 2001 attacks, can facilitate a more rapid passage of exceptional measures. But the maintenance and normalization of these powers depends upon us/them and inside/outside boundary markers. Violent acts may thus influence outcomes, but they do not determine their substance or direction. Reasserted and/or reconfigured perceptions of distance and danger stabilizing the threat and referent in particular ways played a key role in counterterrorism’s transition from emergency response to permanent practice. Through a relational-securitization approach, analysis can better map out how processes of identity construction were essential to the securitization of terrorism, and contributed to the emergence, legitimation, and normalization of British counterterrorism from 1968 to 2011.
International Studies Review, 2021
Questions regarding the political significance of international relations (IR) and how scholarly ... more Questions regarding the political significance of international relations (IR) and how scholarly practice relates to/constitutes a political practice appear newly resonant, but are longstanding concerns. This article utilizes the growing literature on temporality within international politics to analyze the political potential of these intellectual interventions and generate new ways of framing scholarly practice. We observe two trends within the field. First, IR as a discipline remains largely—although not exclusively—imagined as an English-language discipline generated by scholars in the Global North. Each area's political discourse is currently dominated by fears surrounding foundational political and institutional change due to the rise of racialized authoritarianism within these self-imagined democratic societies. Despite these purportedly dramatic developments, there has not been a similarly dramatic shift in the scholarly relationship with politics. Scholars continue to s...
H-Diplo, 2020
Discussing “Teaching Gender in IR” is a simultaneously energizing and slightly daunting endeavor ... more Discussing “Teaching Gender in IR” is a simultaneously energizing and slightly daunting endeavor given the challenge and opportunity of identifying how best to engage and communicate this topic. We see an increasing attentiveness to all things gender in IR across and through a range of spaces: Pedagogy/andragogy, syllabi and representation, theoretical debates building in existing research in feminist and gender studies, and specific issue areas such as “Women, Peace, and Security,” gender and domestic labor, and women and transgender service members in military combat roles. For this essay I have chosen to engage in a relational discussion across two different educational audiences, and three different educational areas of focus. The audiences are undergraduate/non-military and graduate/military, and the areas of focus are conceptual/theoretical, illustrative/empirical, and situational/self-reflective. More specifically, I endeavor to identify teaching efforts, challenges, and lessons learned for each audience corresponding to all three areas of focus as they relate to teaching gender in IR, highlighting similarities and differences across each audience, with a concluding prioritization of resonance, relevance, and agency in the classroom and through assignments. (full roundtable at https://networks.h-net.org/node/28443/discussions/6131086/h-diplo-teaching-roundtable-xxi-39-teaching-gender-ir)
2019: A Changing International Order? Implications for the Security Environment, 2020
Referencing the Conference Report for the 2019 Kingston Conference on International Security, “A ... more Referencing the Conference Report for the 2019 Kingston Conference on International Security, “A Changing International Order? Implications for the Security Environment”, the authors conclude “What appears to be certain is that the status quo international order is undergoing significant change. What is not certain is whether that change represents a corrective adaptation within the norms of the existing system, or a fundamental change that will replace existing norms and the leadership over the system.” Through this paper I engage with this conclusion by considering international order with respect to the Americas. Such a regional anchor provides a useful vantage point from which to think about shifting security dynamics in terms of specific issue areas as well as broader processes of (dis)ordering. To do so, I suggest that we consider (dis)ordering dynamics with a conscious eye on two areas of relational interplay: One, that of domestic politics and foreign policy; and, two, that of short and long time horizons. The latter timing focus is something often underestimated by analyses saturated by the temporal immediacy of social media and Internet (dis)information overload. Indeed the long term investment required by contemporary security challenges demands attention to futures beyond election cycles and generational lifespans. The former focus on the interplay of domestic and foreign politics/policy is a theme receiving increasing explicit engagement by security scholars and practitioners, as observed throughout the majority of panels at KCIS 2019, and is central to understanding order and disorder. By way of conclusion, I respond to questions posed by the 2019 KCIS organizers, and make a call for more explicit engagement with normative aspects of security decision making, practical but imaginative thinking given the necessity of multilateralism, and a kind of “humanity-bold” perspective as one way to consider what alternative future international and regional orders could be.
North American Strategic Defense in the 21st Century: Security and Sovereignty in an Uncertain World
Over the years, there have only been a handful of books on North American continental security. I... more Over the years, there have only been a handful of books on North American continental security. In this volume U.S., Canadian, and Mexican scholars broach key issues, challenges, and uncertainties that confront the strategic defense of North America in the 21st century and weigh possible trajectories for the future in light of developments that are anticipated to shape the global security environment. The cases, contexts, and analyses in this volume jettison monolithic conceptions of ‘security’ and ‘strategic defense’ in favor of a robust and dynamic engagement with issues facing North American continental security: from defense procurement challenges and Canada’s ongoing involvement with NORAD, to the effect of the perceptions and reality of U.S. policy and international partners. The volume is split into four parts: North American strategic defense from global, U.S., and Canadian perspectives, and an assessment of the nature, structure, and future of North American strategic defense and NORAD’s role.
In thinking about time, temporality, and global politics, I propose that we think about condition... more In thinking about time, temporality, and global politics, I propose that we think about conditional (non)belonging in the context of identity, insecurity, and counterterrorism. If we are to better combat counterproductive consequences of othering that increase insecurity, we must critically investigate threat labels and the meanings and policies that they legitimise through exclusionary us/them boundary-drawing. This requires that we dislocate status quo time horizons and associated identity assumptions, and that we prioritise empathy, imagination, and analytical risk-taking. It is through this disruption of time, being, and (non)belonging, I would argue, that we have the best chance of achieving effective and ethical security strategies. It is in this vein that through this chapter we explore how temporal assumptions position the ‘homegrown’ terrorist threat as a ‘conditional self’: an actor from within and without. In so doing we see how signposts such as ‘domestic’, ‘international’, and ‘homegrown’ can generalise actors along sweeping categorical assumptions which enable an ongoing exclusion from full belonging, and an increase in insecurity for many with no relation to terroristic violence.
Terrorist threat construction is a forever-unfinished practice of othering that securitizes terro... more Terrorist threat construction is a forever-unfinished practice of othering that securitizes terrorism in particular ways to legitimize exceptional security practices. These processes temporarily stabilize understandings of the terrorist other around assumed inside/outside borders of inclusion and exclusion. This paper focuses on the importance of temporal and spatial imaginaries to these processes through a relational discourse analysis. Focusing on counter-terrorism law within the UK it explores: the role of discourses of distance, danger and otherness in the securitization of terrorism, and the centrality of the ‘international’ in constructions of threat in this context.
Critical Studies on Terrorism, Apr 5, 2013
Narratives of “time” can play a type of stabilising role in official discourses surrounding excep... more Narratives of “time” can play a type of stabilising role in official discourses surrounding exceptional security practice. Whether referencing (or silencing) historical moments, forecasting when measures will return to normal, or debating temporal processes of law making, time can play a significant role in how discourses influence self/other perceptions and material outcomes of security: “x” event demands immediate response, “y” possible future catastrophe poses unacceptable risk, “z” terrorist is an ever-present yet ever-changing other. British counterterrorism law is a useful illustration to investigate how narratives of “time” influenced a shift in counterterrorism law from temporally situated but temporary measures to a type of atemporal policy position. Conceptualising the current state of counterterrorism as “atemporal” enables analysis to look beyond “the” exception, “the” event or “the” emergency. Through this conceptualisation we can better see how context has been left outside the realm of counterterrorism. In so doing, we may open new avenues for collaboration between terrorism studies, peace research and security practice.
From local to global levels, Major International Sporting Events (MISEs) demand a multifaceted in... more From local to global levels, Major International Sporting Events (MISEs) demand a multifaceted interweaving of levels, sectors, actors, and interests. Security planning with respect to possible political violence and terrorism remains a key issue for host governments of MISEs considering the scale of these events, the publicity they entail, and the political demands to prevent threats identified as terrorism. At the same time, a proportionate balance must be struck between providing safety and security and ensuring a festive and spirited atmosphere. This report considers the stakes involved for host governments, provides a chronology of political violence against MISEs and the modus operandi used, discusses mitigation strategies, provides thoughts on future MISEs, and identifies areas in need of further research. Concluding observations point to a need for further attention to the political context of violence and of MISEs, as well as the increased insecurity related to sport facing communities that are distanced from MISE venues.
After over two decades of renewing temporary counterterrorism laws in Britain from the early 1970... more After over two decades of renewing temporary counterterrorism laws in Britain from the early 1970s, making such measures permanent with the Terrorism Act 2000 was not necessarily a predictable or predetermined outcome. The Northern Ireland peace process was underway, the Labour party who had voted against temporary counterterrorism laws for over a decade was newly back in power, and historical context pointed to an inconclusiveness around how effective such laws actually were in reducing insecurity. In this article I argue a key element helping explain this transition from temporary to permanent counterterrorism law lies in how particular threat and referent identities were constructed in official British discourse. Drawing on empirical research from a relational-securitization analysis of official British discourses from the late 1960s to the present, this paper argues that processes of identity construction were essential to introducing and justifying the Terrorism Act 2000. The deployment of particular threat and referent labels established in discourse before events such as 9/11 or 7/7, such as “international” terrorism, helped enable the shift in counterterrorism law from temporary emergency response to permanent policy practice.
Book Reviews by Kathryn Fisher
Marine Corps University Journal, 2016
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Books by Kathryn Fisher
Reviews:
'An original, wide-ranging, and deeply thoughtful book. It draws on historical context as well as sophisticated theoretical arguments, and it offers a very valuable analysis of an important subject.' – Professor Richard English, University of St Andrews, UK
'Fisher's theoretically sophisticated and empirically rich genealogy brings vital historical depth to existing discursive work on the politics of identity within counterterrorism policy. This outstanding new text forces readers to rethink the ways in which claims to belonging and exclusion are put together, evolve, and matter for formulating and normalising responses to terrorist violence and related security challenges.' – Dr Lee Jarvis, University of East Anglia, UK
'How we perceive danger, and what we do about it, defines our identity. Fisher's book shows how we construct ourselves through the conduct of security. Using solid and clear evidence, she demonstrates that actions and statements build group identities – through the process of drawing boundaries between 'us' and 'them'.' – Dr Sherrill Stroschein, University College London, UK
Table of Contents:
PART I: SETTING THE SCENE
1. Counterterrorism, Identity, (In)security
1. Counterterrorism, Identity, (In)security
2. Considering Contexts
3. To Identify Terrorism – a Consequential Ambiguity
PART II: A STORY OF BRITISH COUNTERTERRORISM AND IDENTITY
4. Preserving Peace and Maintaining Order, 1968-1978
5. Criminalizing Terrorism, 1979-1989
6. Shifting Legal Durability, 1990-1999
7. Amplifying 21st Century Exception, 2000-2006
8. A Plateau of Exceptionality, 2007-2011
PART III: REFLECTING AND LOOKING AHEAD
9. (Starting) Conclusions
Papers by Kathryn Fisher
Book Reviews by Kathryn Fisher
Reviews:
'An original, wide-ranging, and deeply thoughtful book. It draws on historical context as well as sophisticated theoretical arguments, and it offers a very valuable analysis of an important subject.' – Professor Richard English, University of St Andrews, UK
'Fisher's theoretically sophisticated and empirically rich genealogy brings vital historical depth to existing discursive work on the politics of identity within counterterrorism policy. This outstanding new text forces readers to rethink the ways in which claims to belonging and exclusion are put together, evolve, and matter for formulating and normalising responses to terrorist violence and related security challenges.' – Dr Lee Jarvis, University of East Anglia, UK
'How we perceive danger, and what we do about it, defines our identity. Fisher's book shows how we construct ourselves through the conduct of security. Using solid and clear evidence, she demonstrates that actions and statements build group identities – through the process of drawing boundaries between 'us' and 'them'.' – Dr Sherrill Stroschein, University College London, UK
Table of Contents:
PART I: SETTING THE SCENE
1. Counterterrorism, Identity, (In)security
1. Counterterrorism, Identity, (In)security
2. Considering Contexts
3. To Identify Terrorism – a Consequential Ambiguity
PART II: A STORY OF BRITISH COUNTERTERRORISM AND IDENTITY
4. Preserving Peace and Maintaining Order, 1968-1978
5. Criminalizing Terrorism, 1979-1989
6. Shifting Legal Durability, 1990-1999
7. Amplifying 21st Century Exception, 2000-2006
8. A Plateau of Exceptionality, 2007-2011
PART III: REFLECTING AND LOOKING AHEAD
9. (Starting) Conclusions