The current issue of Behemoth, edited by Benjamin Rampp and Martin Endreß, deals with the complex relationship between security and trust. It contains contributions from the fields of sociology, philosophy, and history.
Security practices aim at both the creation of trust as well as its maintenance and are at the same time based upon techniques of distrust and might, as paradoxical unanticipated consequences, question trust. Thus, trust can be understood as a prerequisite of security practices as well as a phenomenon which structurally conflicts with security. And, to cast a glance at the full complexity of the relationship, their meanings at times even seem to merge when they are understood in a broader sense.
The special issue focuses on this multifaceted relationship, which proves to be highly relevant in contemporary, advanced modern contexts that can be described as “security societies”. This is true with respect to discourses on the increasing uncertainty in the context of flexible and risky societal constellations as well as in regard to the increasing (at least discursive) relevance of and orientation towards the concept of security.
Both phenomena must be understood as multidimensional and highly dynamic. Thus, regarding the phenomenon of security, not only the specific empirical fields are of importance, but also current developments which change the character of security and its production. And also with regard to the phenomenon of trust, a variety of developments as well as approaches must be considered, be it classically with a focus on the reference objects of trust or concerning the particular mode of trust.