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”