Description
Securitisation theory has too often been associated with the liberal state of exception and its problematic bagage. The Copenhagen School’s early claims to deconstruct (not reproduce) the national security logic seem largely overlooked. Through the fantasy video game World of Warcraft, this paper asks how a distinct security mode is still possible when the normalisation of armed violence exceeds even what Carl Schmitt’s political theory can provide for. It redefines the mirror approach to popular culture for theory exploration, framing the game as a ‘third-order representation’ and analysing how its numerous factions discursively construct each other. Following a careful reading of Ole Wæver’s formulation of the ‘existential threat’, securitisation asserts that without a certain referent object, the world becomes meaningless. As a tool for reshaping the limits of imagination, securitisation enacts political communities in World of Warcraft by fostering supranational cooperation and erasing sovereign disputes, against conventional real-world wisdom. In later expansions of the game, the monopoly on legitimate securitisation is captured by the nascent sovereign state, imbuing securitisation with the realist connotations it is today known for. The paper furthermore illustrates the pivotal role of securitising discourse in popular culture narratives.
