“It’s the birthrates”: How Feelings of Ontological Insecurity Motivated the
Christchurch Shooter
S2839032
Crisis and Security Management, MSc.
Security Challenges in a Globalizing World
Dr. G.M. van Buuren
22/10/2023
Word count: 3300
, “It’s the birthrates”: How Feelings of Ontological Insecurity
Motivated the Christchurch Shooter
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................2
Theoretical framework................................................................................................................2
Home.....................................................................................................................................3
Institutions............................................................................................................................ 4
Future....................................................................................................................................5
Recurring themes.................................................................................................................. 5
Methodology...............................................................................................................................5
Operationalisation.................................................................................................................5
Analysis...................................................................................................................................... 6
Future....................................................................................................................................7
Home.....................................................................................................................................7
Institutions & Society........................................................................................................... 9
Conclusion................................................................................................................................ 10
Reference list............................................................................................................................ 12
Appendix...................................................................................................................................14
Appendix A. Codebook...................................................................................................... 14
Appendix B. Coding Scheme............................................................................................. 16
1
, Introduction
On March 15, 2019, a violent terrorist attack against innocent Muslims in New Zealand
shocked the world. Brenton Tarrant, then 28, entered two mosques in Christchurch while
live-streaming and opened fire on a group of Muslims, killing 51 people (Baun, 2022). Before
he could reach his third target, Tarrant was apprehended and is currently serving a life
sentence in prison for the deadliest terrorist attack in the history of New Zealand (BBC, 2020;
Macklin, 2019).
Motivated by racism and nationalism, Tarrant (2019) wrote and published a manifesto
to explain his grievances, his worldview, and the choice of his targets. This study seeks to
understand Tarrant's reasoning for violence to a deeper extent by applying the framework of
ontological security to his manifesto, using the following research question: “To what extent
can the Christchurch shootings be explained by the perpetrator’s feelings of ontological
insecurity?”. It is argued that Tarrant’s motivations for terrorism can partially be understood
from a feeling of ontological insecurity derived from at least three overarching drivers,
namely a sense of homelessness, a distrust of society and its institutions and a pessimistic
view of the future.
First, ontological security as a theoretical framework is discussed based on previous
scholarship, followed by the identification of drivers of (in)security. Then, methodological
choices are explained and the drivers are operationalised. The subsequent analysis applies
these drivers and other factors to Tarrant’s manifesto. Lastly, the conclusion encompasses the
most important findings of this study and provides areas of opportunity for future research.
Theoretical framework
The notion of ontological security first appeared in Laing’s (1960) The Divided Self.
Employing a psychoanalytical approach, he described the need for certain assurances in an
individual’s life, such as consistency and identity. Giddens (1990, p.92) continued to develop
this concept from a sociological perspective, referring to ontological security as “the
confidence that most human beings have in the continuity of their self-identity and in the
constancy of the surrounding and material environments of action”.
Ontological security, thus, provides individuals with a pathway to follow and covers
the ever-lingering anxieties of mortality, existence and meaninglessness (Mitzen & Kinnvall,
2020; Browning, 2019). Giddens (1991) stressed the importance of social narratives and
routines to keep anxieties at bay. Narratives are the cultural and institutional constructs that
2
Christchurch Shooter
S2839032
Crisis and Security Management, MSc.
Security Challenges in a Globalizing World
Dr. G.M. van Buuren
22/10/2023
Word count: 3300
, “It’s the birthrates”: How Feelings of Ontological Insecurity
Motivated the Christchurch Shooter
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................2
Theoretical framework................................................................................................................2
Home.....................................................................................................................................3
Institutions............................................................................................................................ 4
Future....................................................................................................................................5
Recurring themes.................................................................................................................. 5
Methodology...............................................................................................................................5
Operationalisation.................................................................................................................5
Analysis...................................................................................................................................... 6
Future....................................................................................................................................7
Home.....................................................................................................................................7
Institutions & Society........................................................................................................... 9
Conclusion................................................................................................................................ 10
Reference list............................................................................................................................ 12
Appendix...................................................................................................................................14
Appendix A. Codebook...................................................................................................... 14
Appendix B. Coding Scheme............................................................................................. 16
1
, Introduction
On March 15, 2019, a violent terrorist attack against innocent Muslims in New Zealand
shocked the world. Brenton Tarrant, then 28, entered two mosques in Christchurch while
live-streaming and opened fire on a group of Muslims, killing 51 people (Baun, 2022). Before
he could reach his third target, Tarrant was apprehended and is currently serving a life
sentence in prison for the deadliest terrorist attack in the history of New Zealand (BBC, 2020;
Macklin, 2019).
Motivated by racism and nationalism, Tarrant (2019) wrote and published a manifesto
to explain his grievances, his worldview, and the choice of his targets. This study seeks to
understand Tarrant's reasoning for violence to a deeper extent by applying the framework of
ontological security to his manifesto, using the following research question: “To what extent
can the Christchurch shootings be explained by the perpetrator’s feelings of ontological
insecurity?”. It is argued that Tarrant’s motivations for terrorism can partially be understood
from a feeling of ontological insecurity derived from at least three overarching drivers,
namely a sense of homelessness, a distrust of society and its institutions and a pessimistic
view of the future.
First, ontological security as a theoretical framework is discussed based on previous
scholarship, followed by the identification of drivers of (in)security. Then, methodological
choices are explained and the drivers are operationalised. The subsequent analysis applies
these drivers and other factors to Tarrant’s manifesto. Lastly, the conclusion encompasses the
most important findings of this study and provides areas of opportunity for future research.
Theoretical framework
The notion of ontological security first appeared in Laing’s (1960) The Divided Self.
Employing a psychoanalytical approach, he described the need for certain assurances in an
individual’s life, such as consistency and identity. Giddens (1990, p.92) continued to develop
this concept from a sociological perspective, referring to ontological security as “the
confidence that most human beings have in the continuity of their self-identity and in the
constancy of the surrounding and material environments of action”.
Ontological security, thus, provides individuals with a pathway to follow and covers
the ever-lingering anxieties of mortality, existence and meaninglessness (Mitzen & Kinnvall,
2020; Browning, 2019). Giddens (1991) stressed the importance of social narratives and
routines to keep anxieties at bay. Narratives are the cultural and institutional constructs that
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