Paper short abstract:

Drones have become crucial elements of military and civil security. This paper will describe the growing importance of drones and the changing nature of security technologies from a constructivist perspective and how the construction of security shapes the construction of technology and vice versa.

Paper long abstract:

Especially in the course of the "War on Terror", drones have become a notorious mean of counter-terrorism. However, drones have developed into viable surveillance technologies, surveying conflict zones, troop movements and border zones. Drones as a symbol of the automatization of technologies symbolize the changing nature of security, they assume an important role in national as well as human security.

Drones symbolize an important innovation in security technology. Their variable possibilities of usage have impacted security operations to a great extent. Important fields of security become progressively dependent on the use of drones, development of drones has become an important aspect in military research. This causes the question why drones are becoming increasingly important to states and societies and how drones can contribute to societal security.

This paper attempts to combine the approaches of constructivism in security and science and technology respectively. Social construction of security, or the securitization of issues is central for describing how social circumstances shape science and technology. Therefore, it will be investigated how the social construction of security has impacted societies' approaches to security technologies. The main research question is, following Pinch and Bijker's (1984) description of technology as social construction, how securitization influences social construction of technologies in the case of drones. It will therefore be investigated if drones as security technology have developed out of changing security perceptions, for example after 9/11 or in the course of the refugee crisis.