ABSTRACT
Framing is largely about competing problem definitions, which makes this approach particularly suitable to the study of threat politics. The 'privilege of formulating problems' is a basic element of societal and political power. Threat images involve a sense of endangered values and a perceived inability to control events. The perceived source of this danger can be specific, such as a particular event, condition or actor. The securitisation approach serves to underline the responsibility of talking security, the responsibility of actors as well as analysts who choose to frame an issue as a security issue. The overarching aim is to understand why and how things we can be afraid of take on societal salience. The notion of societal salience is intended to capture things that, in a given time and place, are widely seen as the most important and topical issues. This chapter also presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in this book.
