My article that develops an understanding of piracy as a community of practice and investigates why Somali pirates rely on the narrative that their actions are a form of protection is now available as Open Access with Third World Quarterly. In the article I develop a practice–theoretical account to provide the first systematic investigation of the justification of Somali piracy. Arguing for an understanding of piracy as a ‘community of practice’, I show how this community is organised by a ‘grand narrative’ that projects piracy as a quasi-state practice of the protection of sovereignty against foreign intruders. Paying attention to narrative provides an explanation for the persistence of piracy and assists us in understanding the phenomenon. Relying on publicly available interviews with pirates, I deconstruct this grand narrative and detail the different functions of the narrative in the light of situations in which it is told. The article develops an alternative perspective on piracy based on the study of practice, narrative and situation that provides new avenues for the study of clandestine, illicit or violent practices.
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New Article Published: Africa’s Maritime Security Regime
Maritime security has been a long-neglected issue on the African security agenda. This situation is changing incrementally, not the least because of the attention to the problem of piracy in the continent’s waters. The “piracy momentum” has led to a significant intensification of maritime security cooperation. This article analyzes current processes, strategies, and institutional responses to maritime security challenges. Drawing on a practice-theoretical constructivist reading of regimes, the article investigates how continental actors interact, develop a common repertoire, and engage in joint enterprises to address maritime security challenges. It argues that several nascent transnational collectives are developing that can be interpreted as providing the nucleus of maritime security communities. It is one of the first articles analyzing African maritime security from a theoretically informed perspective. It is available as Open Access with the Journal African Security.
Presentation: The New Maritime Security Agenda: Consequences for the Shipping Industry
From the 5th to the 6th of December I will participate in “The Blue Conference 2013” on Maritime Risk and Risk Management. The conference is organized by Copenhagen Business School and the Maritime Development Center Europe. At the conference I will give a presentation that discusses how the new maritime security agenda places new demands on the shipping industry, including new modes of public-private relations. Further details on the conference are available here
Presentation: Maritime Piracy and International Relations
On November 28th I will give a presentation at the international conference on: “The threat of contemporary piracy and the role of the international community” organized by the Istituto Affari Internazionali and the International Institute for Humanitarian Law. The one day conference in Rome brings together a number of academics and policy practitioners to discuss the current state of counter-piracy. The program is available here.
Call for Papers: Maritime Securityscapes, WISC Frankfurt 6-9.8.2014
The maritime remains an unchartered space of international relations. The discipline of International Relations largely treats the maritime as an empty space that requires to be bridged without paying attention to what happens at sea. While the discourse on naval power has addressed the maritime as space of military action, this panel series intends to broaden our understanding of the oceans by studying it as a securityscape. The panel series invites contributions (paper, panel, or roundtable proposals) that study maritime security and ocean governance broadly understood. In what way is the maritime increasingly securitized? What are the larger consequences of security action at sea? How can maritime security challenges including, but not limited to, piracy, smuggling, migration and non-proliferation be governed? What regimes, institutions, projects or technologies are required to deal with maritime security?
The panel series is organized jointly by the Counter-Piracy Governance project at Cardiff University, the Maritime Security program of Coventry University, and by the Universität der Bundeswehr, Munich. All paper proposals should be accompanied by a brief author biography (2-3 sentences) and an institutional address and be emailed to Dr Christian Bueger at buegercm@cf.ac.uk by no later than 25th of November. The World International Studies Committee Conference will take place between 6-9 August 2014 with decisions about submissions made by the conference organisers by February 2014. Further details can be found at: http://www.fb03.uni-frankfurt.de/46347686/wisc
In the Field: Djibouti Counter Piracy Week
From 10.-15.11. I will be attending the counter piracy week of the international Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia. At the meeting the future of counter-piracy governance in general terms as well as its institutional structure will be discussed. One of the issue is also the Lessons Learned Project of the group in which I collaborate with EU-ISS, IPI and OBP.
Upcoming Presentation of New Paper
On October 30th I will present the draft of a new paper titled “Problems, Practices, Pirates: Outline of a Theory of Problematization” at the research seminar series of the Centre of Advanced Security Theory (CAST), Copenhagen, where I am a visiting fellow until December. The paper intends to develop a framework for studying problematization practices and their interaction by drawing on the case of maritime piracy. Drawing on ideas first presented in my 2013 Global Policy paper I develop a typology of five problematizations of piracy and discuss how these are coordinated as well as create controversy in policy making. Further information is available here
Article on Methodology of Practice Theory Online
My article titled “Pathways to Practice: Praxiography and International Politics” is now online available as open access on the European Political Science Review website. The article addresses the question what the methodological implications of the practice turn are. Arguing that praxiography is the best label to describe the methodology of practice theory I discuss research strategy as well as different methods to capture practice. The article intends to offer guidelines for those interested in writing a praxiography as well as makes the argument that practice theory requires a genuine methodological discourse.
In the Field: Conference on “Good order at sea off Eastern Africa: Beyond piracy”
From 18.9.-.20.9.2013, the 3rd International Conference on Strategic Theory in Dar es Salam, Tanzania will explore which lessons can be learned from Somali piracy and how maritime security governance in the region can be strengthened. The conference attended by academics, defense experts and maritime security practitioners is organized by the Faculty of Military Science, Stellenbosch University and the Royal Danish Defence College.
At the conference I will give a presentation titled “Learning from Piracy. Challenges of Maritime Security Governance”. More information is available here.
In the Field: London International Shipping Week
From September 9th-13th I will attend the London International Shipping Week and participate in events on maritime security, piracy as well as the DSEI 2013. 