Vol. 3 No. 1 (2027)
Practice Theory and Power

Columns

Practising the ‘Not Yet’: On the Climatization of Ordinary Life

Published 19-08-2026

  • Svenja McGrath
    • ,
  • Fladvad Benno

Svenja McGrath
Department of Earth System Sciences, University of Hamburg

Fladvad Benno
Department of Earth System Sciences, University of Hamburg

A roman or greek column, silver on a blue background

Abstract

Climate security is shaped by an absent presence: a threat that unfolds materially while simultaneously existing as an anticipated future of a ‘not yet’. This column argues that practice theory offers a productive approach for understanding how this dual character emerges through the practices of everyday life. Moving beyond macropolitical accounts of climate securitisation, we highlight how climate (in)security is increasingly enacted through ordinary preparedness, resilience, and adaptation practices, revealing both a diffusion of security responsibility to civilians and a horizontal blurring of civilian and military domains.

Keywords

anticipation, civil–military entanglements, climate security, everyday security, preparedness, resilience

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Author Biography

Svenja McGrath

Svenja McGrath is a Doctoral Researcher and Research Associate at the University of Hamburg. Her research lies at the intersection of political geography and critical security studies, with a particular interest in how defence and security practices are changing in the face of climate change. Focusing on the Canadian Arctic, her current research draws on fieldwork with military and civilian actors to examine these transformations in a region increasingly shaped by the intersecting dynamics of environmental change and geopolitical pressures.

Fladvad Benno

Benno Fladvad is Assistant Professor of Peace Research specialising in Climate and Security at the University of Hamburg. His research covers climate security, environmental justice, critical military geographies, energy transitions, infrastructural transformations, and future technologies. His current research activities include research projects examining the long-term effects of nuclear weapons tests in the Sea of Islands and the intersection of civil and military practices in Arctic contexts.

References

  1. Busby, J. 2021. ‘Beyond Internal Conflict: The Emergent Practice of Climate Security’. Journal of Peace Research, 58(1), pp. 186-194. https://doi.org/10.1177/0022343320971019
  2. Frers, L. 2013. ‘The Matter of Absence’. Cultural Geographies, 20(4), pp. 431-445. https://doi.org/10.1177/1474474013477775

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