‘Hambi bleibt!’ - Securitizing the Environment - A case study of discursive threat-construction surrounding the Hambach Forest

Abstract: Although issues linked to global environmental change and its role within peace, conflict andsecurity have been subject to social and political controversy for years, they are still notsufficiently respected by energy companies, trade unions, national governments andinternational institutions alike. Through applying the tools of a single instrumental case studylinked to the application of discourse analysis I, this study explores the process of securitizationof the environment in the extraordinary case of the resistance and occupation surrounding theHambach Forest, thereby countering the widely held assumption that collective action aimedat radically changing existing structures is not possible. The particular exploratory focus is puton the way this non-conventional environmental security discourse has been created within aredefined securitization framework. By challenging the traditional focus of securitizationtheory on top-down construction through elites, this study provides a broadened, bottom-upaccount of environmental securitization stemming from local civil society actors as nonpowerholdersthat effectively proclaim their recognition of the environment’s intrinsic valuefrom a grassroots level. Consequently, it argues for the significance of securitization as creativeprocess of alerting policy makers, political leaders and the broader society to the emergency ofclimate change and global environmental degradation symbolized through the specific case ofHambach Forest.