Governing threats through ambiguity: the construction of the dangerous person in the German parliamentary discourse

Over the past two decades, German counterterrorism policy has shifted from managing dangerous situations to identifying and pre-emptively addressing individuals classified as so-called dangerous persons (“Gefährder”). Although the term lacks a formal legal definition, it has become deeply embedded in political discourse and central to security practices and counterterrorism measures in Germany. This article situates the German Gefährder discourse within broader debates in critical terrorism studies, highlighting its alignment with logics of precaution and othering while emphasising its specific features within Germany’s unique framework of “militant democracy”. Addressing an under-explored case, the article investigates how the figure of the Gefährder has been constructed in German parliamentary debates between 2014 and 2024. Drawing on discourse analysis, we trace how the figure is employed to shape narratives around threatening bodies, inform risk assessments, and justify policy responses. The findings reveal how the term operates performatively, co-producing the very insecurity it purports to address. By critically unpacking the ambiguities inherent in the concept of Gefährder, this study highlights its political functions in shaping practices of (in)security governance.