DIIS ∙ DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES Ontological Security - the ‘on- off’ button of spill-over? Trine Flockhart Singapore, 4 October 2011

What is the paper about?  A sympathetic revision of Ernst Haas’s neo- functionalism  Elevating spill-over from a first order theorizing concept to second order theorizing  Introduces ontological security as a precondition for agent action  Sees spill-over as a result of enthusiasm and a ‘can do’ attitude rather than a result of disappointment and frustration DIIS ∙ DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Outline of paper  Neo-functionalism – the basics  Haas’s ‘theory of international politics’ and change at the macro level  Ontological security  Identity and the importance of self-esteem  Narrative and the importance of biographical continuity  Practice and Action  Action outcomes and conditions for spill-over  DIIS ∙ DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Neo-functionalism – the basics  Neo-functionalism – the first integration theory based on the empirical situation unfolding in (Western) Europe during the 1950s  Central concept spill-over, which holds that a dynamic and expansive logic of integration into different policy-areas and at higher levels of authority.  Seemed able to explain European regional integration in the 1950s and early 60s but fell into disrepute after De Gaulle’s veto DIIS ∙ DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Haas’s ‘theory of international politics’  Ernst Haas was a prolific writer on nationalism, epistemic communities and social constructivism  The ‘other guy down the corridor’  Haas was always really concerned with ‘change at the macro level’ and how to affect change  Change following crisis or disruptive events and change in the absence of crisis DIIS ∙ DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Problems with Neo-functionalism  Euro-specific both in its empirical focus and in its theoretical assumptions and conditions  Extremely specific as it was conceptualized as a first order theory  Central concepts and processes were under specified  Formulated within the wrong ‘zeitgeist’  Unable to incorporate external events and structural change DIIS ∙ DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

An eclectic model DIIS ∙ DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Ontological security 1  The security of the self  Anthony Giddens, Jenifer Mitzen  ‘When an agent has a stable and as possitive as possible view of self and where order and stability in regard to the future, relationships and experiences is maintained’  Individuals need to feel secure in who they are (self-esteem), experience themselves as a whole and continuous person and maintain uncertainty within tolerable limits DIIS ∙ DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Ontological Security 2  Ontological security is what allows agents to get on with daily life  It requires that agents have ‘basic trust’ and manageable levels of anxiety  It assumes a stable cognitive environment through routinization of daily practices  It requires reinforcement through successful action leading to pride rather than unsuccessful/failed action leading to shame/disappointment DIIS ∙ DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Identity and the importance of self- esteem  SIT assumes that agents strive to maximize their self-esteem and that a high level of self- esteem will prevent anxiety.  High self-esteem will ensure a positive narrative, which will produce integrity of the self.  SIT also assumes that agents need cognitive consistency, which is achieved through stable social relations through belonging to a social group with a given norm set DIIS ∙ DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Narrative and the importance of biographical continuity  Narrative theory assumes that the aim of the narrative construction process is positive emplotment and sense making of the past  Narratives continuously incorporate occurring events and new episodes into a positive story about ‘who we are’  It is assumed that agents will always try to establish a ‘strong narrative’ that ensure biographical continuity and self-esteem. DIIS ∙ DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

The narrative-identity shuttle  There is a constant process of ‘shuttling’ to and fro between narrative construction processes and identity construction processes.  Time and energy consuming process  Always in constitution and influenced from both the structural/external level and from the agent level  Equilibrium between narrative and identity = ontological security DIIS ∙ DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Practice and Action  Practice is seen as unconscious or automatic activities embedded in taken for granted routines contributing to stability  Action is reflexive intentional goal oriented behavior designed to affect change  Rhetorical action is located at the language level consisting mainly of statements that do not require any further action  Functional action requires actual action  All action and practice can be reinforcing or undermining DIIS ∙ DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Possible action outcomes DIIS ∙ DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

The whole model DIIS ∙ DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Towards a modernized version of spill-over  Applies to all intentional action processes designed to affect change  The overall process may be ‘kick-started’ by crisis, but is more likely to take place in the absence of crisis.  ‘agent-led action related to a specific goal leading to further action in a dynamic, and possibly expansive, process where the initial agent-led action leads to more action, and all major actors remain committed to the project’  Results from positive emotions DIIS ∙ DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Conditions for spill-over  Action (either rhetorical but preferably functional) must be reinforcing  Events must be able to be incorporated into the narrative and identity construction processes without detrimental effects on bio-graphical continuity or self-esteem  Practice must be continuously reinforcing  Disruptive structural change is absent  Ontological security has to be established at all times DIIS ∙ DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

NATO and EU (CSDP)  Two organizations within the same structural environment and similar roles  Yet since the end of CW dramatically different action patterns and different ontological security patterns  Both have displayed clear processes of spill- over  Both suggest that spill-over is fragile and difficult to establish and sustain DIIS ∙ DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

Conclusion  Incorporate the structural/external level and agent level – both of which feed into a process level  If all five conditions are present, spill-over may be ‘switched on’.  Elevating spill-over to a general issue of change  Allows for comparison between different processes of change  Change is always possible, but difficult to achieve and to sustain DIIS ∙ DANISH INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES