Lecture 1
G.M. van Buuren
Ontological Security
Corona
● Als je Corona hebt mag je on-site sessies missen. Je verwacht het niet!!!!!!
● On-site sessions are obligatory.
Dit vak:
- 5 sessies van 20 minuten
- Everything will be uploaded to Brightspace
- Sessions will not be recorded. In-class office hours will be recorded. Think about
privacy and stuff.
- Participation is obligatory → in-class team work.
- Questions? Ask them on Fridays.
- Private channel on Teams = breakout room. Group.
Eco-anxiety - connecting micro and macro levels
● Lecturer shows the Eco-Anxiety clip, which can be found on Brightspace. Gaat
he-le-maal mis. Iedereen paniek.
● Eco-anxiety has an effect on the emotional well-being of people. Consequences on an
individual level, because of something on the macro level (environmental degradation).
● Physical health, mental health and community health are interrelated. They are all
influenced by different vulnerabilities.
, ● Some communities are more vulnerable than others, depending on e.g. economic
inequalities. Think about access to health for example. Context matters! Some
population groups will be more threatened by climate change than others, e.g.
indigenous peoples or farmers.
● Environmental injustice / environmental racism ⇒ inequalities around climate
change. Toxic waste facilities are often placed around poor communities. These
communities are also more vulnerable to flooding.
● Symptoms of Eco-anxiety → depression, compulsive behavior, insomnia, decreased
energy levels etc. There are different forms of eco-anxiety.
● Resilience matters → ability of individuals and communities to cope with instability.
● Dialectic approach → not only analyzing causes of ontological insecurity, but
especially how people react to these feelings of insecurity.
● There are also other anxieties related to modern life.
Think about Jo Bell (2019). → artikel
● Material positions improved, psycho-social conditions have become more complicated
and demanding. Young people are insecure about the future nowadays, for example.
● Macro-social developments <--> individual life of people. Interlinked.
● Ontological security → has to do with macro level happenings impacting the individual
level.
, ● Ontological security = stable state derived from a sense of continuity in regard to
events in one’s life and individual experiences. Involves having a positive view of the
self, the world and the future. Some of the features: constancy, privacy, trust in the
future, secure base for identity construction etc. Very important to all of us. Feeling
of ontological security can be threatened by certain developments = ontological
insecurity.
● Authors (Bell et al.) wanted to know what factors on the macro level influenced the
individual levels of ontological insecurity. They made a thematic analysis:
- Pressure and uncertainty about the future → related to tension between
expectations and reality. Not everyone can have it all.
- Damaging effects of social media → contributes to anxiety. Hostile online world
filled with hate and bullying.
- Increasing school pressures → high pressure to perform, be better than others,
make choices for the rest of your life.
- Austerity programs / reduced resources → social and welfare programs have been
cut down, educational programs as well. This has an effect on the wellbeing of
youngsters.
- Increased tolerance towards mental health problems / normalisation of talking
about mental health → youngsters are comfortable talking about mental health
problems.
● !! Authors reflect critically on their study: uncertainty and confusion has always been
associated with growing up.
● Social media is emphasized. Looking for approval, always being watched, hate
speech, trolling etc. Heavy use of social media is correlated with lower self esteem and
anxiety related symptoms. Lines between reality and fantasy are blurred. Everything
together leads to uncertainty about the world, the future and the self.
Team assignment
- Video clip in which you explain for a layman's audience, explain the concept of
ontological security to the Coronacrisis
Change of plans! MS Teams doesn’t work like the lecturer wants it to. The course design will be
changed. Flip the classroom approach. Means: publish all the prerecorded sessions on
Brightspace. Group will be divided into 4 cohorts/smaller groups, will be in correspondence
with the private channels. Class will remain on Monday. Then the prerecorded sessions will be
discussed, the paper etc. We will have to prepare more beforehand, BUT the lecture will be
shorter → 1 hour or so. All information will be published on Brightspace. In a live session we
will discuss the prerecorded lectures.
- Final assignment → 4th of October.
- Video assignment (team) → see programme guide. Due 9th of October.
- Interim reflection paper → for every learning outcome there is 1 lecture. After today’s
lecture you can invullen de leer-outcomes. Final reflection paper is part of the portfolio.
, Interim reflection paper is for yourself, your diary. This has to be handed in after each
course, teachers will not assess it/look at it. Mandatory to upload them of Brightspace.
They want to have it for storage purposes. → use the interim paper to finalize the final
reflection paper (June 2021).
- Friday 10.00 - 14.00: you can ask questions. You have to make a digital appointment for
this. Will be published on Brightspace.
Reference system → Van Buuren doesn’t have a preference. Use the system you are familiar
with. But be coherent and consistent.
Collapsed context (in regards to the ontological security) ⇒ idea of ontological security is
tied to predictability, certain relationships, routines etc. As soon as this context changes (when
routines are changed), this can destabilize the feeling that the world is safe and predictable.
Ontological Security
Lecturer shows Christchurch clip.
● You see the interlinkage between different levels of society in the clip → impact on
individual lives by events on a higher level
● Something like a terrorist attack can have a huge effect on ontological security
● Social transformations like environmental degradation can have an effect on individual
feelings of anxiety and insecurity
● Ontological security → concept created by R.D. Laing in his book The Devided Self.
● Psychoanalytical approach - existential identities
● Critical approach - the behaviour of a patient does not reflect a mental disease, but is
expressive of her/his existence
● People will get sick from an absence of the assurances derived from ontological
security: autonomy, consistency, identity.
● Giddens (1991) used a sociological approach to ontological security. Transformed the
concept from Laing.
● Ontological security depends on our ability to have faith in those social narratives and
routines which we are embedded. Social narratives tell people’s stories, their routines
etc.
● Otherwise we would constantly be threatened by a notion of risk and danger
● Ontological security allows for a sense of agency and sense of identity. They think they
are in control and make decisions.
