Affective Deterrence and Security Community Formation: Emotional Narratives of Displaced Ukrainians in Europe after 2022

Bessonova, Maryna та Makliuk, Olha (2026) Affective Deterrence and Security Community Formation: Emotional Narratives of Displaced Ukrainians in Europe after 2022 Ideology and Politics Journal, 29 (1). с. 137-169. ISSN 2227-6068

Текст Bessonova_Makliuk-1-29-2026-Ideology and Politics.pdf - Опублікована версія Download (4MB)

Анотація

The full-scale russian invasion of Ukraine has reshaped European security not only at the diplomatic and military levels but also through everyday emotional practices among displaced civilians. To analyze this, the study employs an analytical framework that connects micro-level personal experiences of displacement to macro-level security outcomes, demonstrating how individual emotional narratives inform broader political and strategic processes. This paper examines how Ukrainian refugees and temporary migrants in Europe produce and circulate emotional narratives that contribute to what can be conceptualized as affective deterrence and the bottom-up formation of a transnational security community. Drawing on narrative and semi-structured interviews conducted between 2023 and 2025, the study examines how experiences of fear, loss, anger, dignity, and solidarity shape perceptions of threat and inform appropriate security responses. The paper situates these lived experiences within the theoretical frameworks of securitization theory and the affective turn in International Relations. To operationalize these concepts, the study treats emotional narratives as structured expressions of “affective labor” and “affective restraint,” through which pre-discursive bodily experiences of war trauma are translated into socialized practices of solidarity and political agency. The paper argues that displaced Ukrainians enact micro-level securitization, where russia is articulated as an existential threat not only to Ukraine but to European stability and moral order. These emotional narratives are then amplified via digital platforms, diaspora networks, and interpersonal ties, shaping public opinion and policy debates in host societies. The findings show that emotional credibility functions as a form of moral deterrence, reinforcing European commitments to Ukraine. In this sense, deterrence is not solely a state-centered strategic calculation but is partially sustained through emotional cohesion and transnational solidarity among civilian populations. By foregrounding displaced Ukrainians as affective political actors, the paper contributes to rethinking deterrence as a socially embedded process. It offers a framework for examining how everyday narratives can uphold or transform international security orders.

Тип елементу :	Стаття
Ключові слова:	affective deterrence; affective restraint; security communities; forced migration; emotional narratives; russo-Ukrainian war; international relations
Типологія:	Статті у періодичних виданнях > Наукові рецензовані журнали (входять до інших баз, крім перерахованих та Google Academy, мають ISSN, DOI, індекс цитування)
Підрозділи:	Факультет права, врядування та міжнародних відносин > Кафедра міжнародних відносин та суспільних комунікацій
Користувач, що депонує:	доцент Марина Миколаївна Бессонова
Дата внесення:	03 Лист 2026 13:19
Останні зміни:	03 Лист 2026 13:19
URI:	https://elibrary.kubg.edu.ua/id/eprint/60016

Actions (login required)

Перегляд елементу