2024 JFIPP Research Fellow - Vindu Mai Chotani

Vindu Mai Chotani

Assistant Professor, Institute of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Tsukuba/ Research Fellow, Social Science Research Institute, International Christian University.

[Project Title]
Securitization and De-securitization in the Indo-Pacific: A Comparative Discourse Analysis of the Quad States Responses to China’s Rise

Project Summary

The key purpose and significance of this project is to understand how state leaders and elites from the four Quad states – the U.S., Japan, India and Australia – communicate their perceptions of threat through acts of securitization or de- securitization. Language is an apt and important indicator of change and securitization theory enables us to better understand this as it analyses the illocutionary and perlocutionary aspects of speech acts, i.e., the former looks at the speaker’s intention in uttering these words and the latter, the result or effect of the speech act. In doing so, one can get more clarity as to when and why the Quad states choose to align (or not). It also helps us understand what this means for the future of the Quad – will it be able to take cohesive action or will it remain in the safer realm of functionality falling short of addressing China’s rise directly? Over the course of this fellowship, the project will conduct a discourse analysis in three case studies: The Quad (Quadrilateral Security Dialogue), Asia’s Democratic Security Diamond, and the Quad 2.0.