Revista Brasileira de Política Internacional (Dec 2015)

Discourses of cyberspace securitization in Brazil and in the United States

  • LUÍSA CRUZ LOBATO,
  • KAI MICHAEL KENKEL

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1590/0034-7329201500202
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 58, no. 2
pp. 23 – 43

Abstract

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Abstract This paper uses the framework of the Copenhagen School to understand the process of securitization of cyberspace, exploring how something in such sphere becomes a threat. Seeking to contribute to the debate, this study analyses the securitization discourses of Brazil and of the United States from Hansen and Nissenbaum's (2009) theorization about the existence of a specific sector for cybersecurity. To comprehend the securitization of cyberspace in these terms allows not only to identify distinct levels of securitization, but also to capture the dynamics of cyber threats, distinguishing them from those existent in other sectors, as well as to trace distinctions between tendencies of securitization and militarization.

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