Too often, talk about security seems to belong to politicians and psychologists; to discussions about terrorism and defence, individual anxiety and insecurity. But how do sociologists think about it? And why care?

Daria Krivonos – who works on migration, race and class in Central and Eastern Europe – tells Alexis and Rosie why security matters. What’s the impact of calling migration a “security threat”? How does the security of the privileged rely on the insecurity of the precarious? And, as Russia’s war in Ukraine continues, what would it mean to truly #StandwithUkraine – from ensuring better job security for its workers abroad, to cancelling its debt?

Plus: pop culture pointers; from Kae Tempest’s “People’s Faces” to the movie “The Mauritanian” – and Alexis’ teenage passion for Rage Against the Machine.

Guest: Daria Krivonos

Hosts: Rosie Hancock, Alexis Hieu Truong

Executive Producer: Alice Bloch

Sound Engineer: David Crackles

Music: Joe Gardner

Artwork: Erin Aniker

Find more about Uncommon Sense at The Sociological Review.

Episode Resources

Daria, Rosie and Alexis recommended

• Kae Tempest’s song “People’s Faces”
• Rage Against the Machine’s song “Without a Face”
• Kevin Macdonald’s movie “The Mauritanian”

From The Sociological Review

• “Brexit On ‘Plague Island’: Fortifying The UK’s Borders In Times Of Crisis” – Michaela Benson and Nando Sigona
• “Organised State Abandonment: The meaning of Grenfell” – Brenna Bhandar
• “Food Insecurity: Upsetting ‘Apple Carts’ in Abstract and Tangible Markets” – Susan Marie Martin

By Daria Krivonos

• “The making of gendered ‘migrant workers’ in youth activation: The case of young Russian-speakers in Finland”

• “Ukrainian farm workers and Finland’s regular army of labour”

• “Who stands with Ukraine in the long term?”

• “Racial capitalism and the production of difference in Helsinki and Warsaw” (forthcoming)

Further readings

• “The Death of Asylum” – Alison Mountz
• “What was the so-called ‘European Refugee Crisis’?” – Danish Refugee Council
• World Food Programme Yemen and Ethiopia statistics
• “In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All” – UN Secretary-General

• “Ukrainian Workers Flee ‘Modern Slavery’ Conditions on UK Farms” – Diane Taylor

• “Bordering” – Nira Yuval-Davis, Georgie Wemyss and Kathryn Cassidy

• Anthony Giddens’ sociological work; including “Modernity and Self-identity: Self and Society in the Late Modern Age”