oa Imperiale angsten

Imperial anxieties. Security and empires in historiography

Recent events have brought to light the possible links between nineteenth-century imperialism and current-day security issues. In the relevant literature, however, there has been little attempt to analyse the historical relationship between security and empires. The conference ‘Security and empire. Mechanics of securitization in imperial spaces’, held in Marburg (Germany)16-18 March 2016, was perhaps a founding moment of imperial security studies. Taking this conference as a starting point, I discuss the current state of affairs in the historiography and indicate the potential to analyse security in imperial contexts. In bringing together the historicizing of security and a comparative approach to imperial history, the conference in Marburg can help us to grasp security in empire.