Strengthening the role of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) and end-users in security research

Project: SOURCE

Authors (VICESSE): Reinhard Kreissl

Published: 2018

Full text available here.

Abstract:

Investigating the position and role of SSH in security research, the informal ESSRO group, supported by the SOURCE project, drafted this position paper summarising the results from a multi-stakeholder consultation event. This paper sets out to discuss specific roles for SSH in security research and define tasks and SSH-inspired research-based contributions to European security policy.

European security policy, comprising dimensions of internal and external security, takes a threat-based approach, highlighting terrorism, radicalisation, organised and cyber-crime as well as climate change as key challenges to be addressed by targeted policy initiatives. European security research is supposed to contribute in several ways: developing a better un- derstanding of (root) causes and provide technological, societal and policy solutions to combat the abovementioned threats. Also, security research should increase the competi- tiveness of the European security industry.

The security research work programme4 takes a mission-oriented approach, i.e. specific challenges are listed in the topic description and research is expected to create impact through the development of innovative solutions and/or better and improved understand- ing of causes of a given security threat. Challenges, threats and topics are defined in the realm of policy and any expected impact of research has to feed back into the policy arena. This framing is compatible with a type of research that has been labelled as techno- solutionism, where a process or technology is developed to address a pre-defined problem and the suggested solution is understood as a tool to be instrumentally applied by the relevant (public or private) security providers. Within this solutionist framework, SSH are introduced as a crosscutting priority in a number of topics addressing human factors, as well as social, societal and organisational aspects of specific security threats. SSH typically take on auxiliary roles, investigating legal and ethical aspects of (primarily technology-enabled) se- curity solutions, conducting citizen surveys to assess the public’s acceptance of specific se- curity measures, researching psychological, social and cultural factors leading to crime and terrorism.