Between Securitization and Desecuritization: The Shifting Discourse on the COVID-19 Pandemic in Serbia

Nedić, Pavle and Mandić, Marko (2023) Between Securitization and Desecuritization: The Shifting Discourse on the COVID-19 Pandemic in Serbia. In: Disaster Construction and Reconstruction: Lessons from COVID -19 for Ethics, Politics and Law. Institute of Social Sciences, Belgrade, pp. 170-189. ISBN 978-86-7093-271-5

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has urged the political decision-makers to assess numerous factors when choosing between the options they perceive an optimal response to this global crisis. Using the theory of securitization, which claims that an issue is constituted as a security threat through the use of a specific speech act performed by the securitizing actors in order to gain support by the audience for the emergency measures, the article examines how Serbian government’s decisions followed a pattern of revolving securitization and desecuritization of the COVID-19 pandemic in their response to the crisis. Serbian government’s initial approach of downplaying the threat was immediately followed by the state of emergency which lasted until the June 2020 parliamentary elections’ campaign. The shifts between the securitization and desecuritization processes lasted until the unsuccessful securitizing move in July demotivated the government from further attempts to securitize the issue out of fear of the audience’s reaction. The authors argue that the constant change of the security discourse on the issue caused a loss of the authority possessed by the securitizers, induced a state of confusion among the citizens (audience), and was primarily shaped by the context of potential political implications it can bring, particularly in relation to the parliamentary elections of 2020.

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