Critical Approaches to International Security
During the Cold War the concept of international security was understood in military terms as the threat or use of force by states. The end of EastÐWest hostilities, however, brought 'critical' perspectives to the fore as scholars sought to explain the emergence of new challenges to international stability, such as environmental degradation, immigration and terrorism. The second edition of this popular and highly respected text offers a wide-ranging and comprehensive analysis of the growing field of critical security studies. All the chapters have been fully revised and updated to map the on-going evolution of debates about international security since 1989, including the more recent shift in emphasis from critiques of the realist practices of states to those of global liberal governance. Topics covered include the relationship between security and change, identity, the production of danger, fear and trauma, human insecurity and emancipation. The book explores the meaning and use of these concepts and their relevance to real-life situations ranging from the War on Terror to the Arab Spring, migration, suffering in war, failed states and state-building, and the changing landscape of the international system, with the emergence of a multipolar world and the escalation of global climate change. Written with verve and clarity and incorporating new seminar activities and questions for class discussion, this book will be an invaluable resource for students of international relations and security studies
1 online resource (258 pages)
9781509501670, 1509501673
956678120
Cover
Title Page
Copyright
Preface
Introduction
Politics and security
Further reading
Notes
PART I CONTEXT
1 Definitions and Redefinitions
Realism and the Cold War
The methodological debate
Return to the military definition?
Further reading
Classroom exercise
Questions
Notes
2 The Proliferation of Concepts
Essentially contested concepts
An ethnocentric concept
Proliferation of concepts
Conclusion
Further reading
Classroom exercise
Questions
Notes
PART II METHODOLOGY
3 Change. Human nature and social construction
Structures and agents
Immanent critique
Resistance
Conclusion
Further reading
Classroom exercise
Questions
Notes
4 Identity
Aspects of identity
Identity and discourse analysis
Identity and the 'clash of civilizations'
Conclusion
Further reading
Classroom exercise
Questions
Notes
PART III PRACTICE
5 Danger
The representation of danger
The politics of danger
The production of insecurity
What is at stake?
Further reading
Classroom exercise
Questions
Notes
6 Fear and Trauma. The securitization of fear
The medicalization of trauma
The politicization of fear and trauma
Conclusion
Further reading
Classroom exercise
Questions
Notes
7 Human Insecurity
Human security
Development and security
The critical response
Conclusion
Further reading
Classroom exercise
Questions
8 Emancipation
Emancipation
Dialogue
Care
Further reading
Classroom exercise
Questions
Notes
References
Index
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