Threatened Trust - The transformation of the state and fading civil security
(Conference of the COST action A24 and the Centre for African Studies Basel - January 9–10, 2006)

The transformation of the state and fading civil security

Within the general theme of the social construction of threats, trust and civil security emerged as one of the major topics of research in the last few years. Trust in social actors, in the state as an institution and trust in the future in general is one of the major resources of social life. There is no sustainable civil security without a basic degree of mutual societal trust. Trust and civil security are thus among the most important factors affecting the future of society, and both are central issues in periods of violent crisis. The evolving and often blurred boundary between public and private authority over the use of force is one of the reasons why trust in public institutions and, even more challenging, trust in social life per se is at times eroding so quickly that many social actors seek to protect themselves by private means.

Trust relationships frequently have been actively undermined by various social actors and means, e.g. by non-state actors offering services for threats identified by themselves or a discourse beyond the reach of ordinary public institutions. Sometimes, inaccurate ‘information’ is provided to discredit other actors and institutions, in particular those of the state. This lack of trust concerns the state as an institution as well as economic, legal and other spheres of public life. In such an unstable climate, the (re)emergence of trust is an essential precondition for any social development. It is thus crucial to understand the dynamics of changing trust and civil security from a wide range of disciplinary perspectives.

This conference brings together scholars from various disciplines and parts of Europe and Africa in order to broaden our understanding of the dynamic change of societal and political trust. By this comparative approach, we hope to enlarge the methodological as well as theoretical scope of ongoing research. Paper givers are invited to contribute to this conference by situating their own research within the broad framework outline above.

Contact address:
Institute for Social Anthropology
Centre for African Studies

Universität Basel
Münsterplatz 19
CH-4051 Basel
Switzerland
e-mail: ethnologie@unibas.ch
Tel. +41 61 2672738
Fax +41 61 2672747