What does it Mean to 'Securitize' Science? Applying insights from Critical Security Studies to Research Security.

Critical debates on research and knowledge security commonly evoke the concept of ‘securitization’ when highlighting dangers to scientific openness in a context of increased attention to national security, but often fail to recognize the multifaceted nature of critical approaches to security. Drawing on a broad literature in Critical Security Studies (CSS) and turning to current debates on research security, this chapter demonstrates how different theoretical engagements with the question of security can be employed to unpack a diverse range of problems in the science-security nexus. The concept of ‘securitization’ captures the process of constructing a matter as a problem of security. As this chapter demonstrates, however, critical security scholars hold different views of the core mechanism driving processes of securitization. While some emphasize linguistic aspects and high-level exceptional decision making, others point to the everyday bureaucratic practices of security professionals or a broader duty-bound ‘responsibilization’ of laypeople. Illustrating these different mechanisms through three cases – Australia, the Netherlands and Norway – the chapter broadens the understanding of research security and provides a useful toolbox for capturing a complex range of processes and actors evoked in contemporary debates and policymaking on science and security.