scholarly journals Securitising Covid-19? The Politics of Global Health and the Limits of the Copenhagen School

2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
pp. 235-257
Author(s):  
Daniel Edler Duarte ◽  
Marcelo M. Valença
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Control Strategies ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
Scientific Controversies ◽  
Copenhagen School ◽  
State Surveillance ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
The One

Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic has sparked controversies over health security strategies adopted in different countries. The urge to curb the spread of the virus has supported policies to restrict mobility and to build up state surveillance, which might induce authoritarian forms of government. In this context, the Copenhagen School has offered an analytical repertoire that informs many analyses in the fields of critical security studies and global health. Accordingly, the securitisation of COVID-19 might be necessary to deal with the crisis, but it risks unfolding discriminatory practices and undemocratic regimes, with potentially enduring effects. In this article, we look into controversies over pandemic-control strategies to discuss the political and analytical limitations of securitisation theory. On the one hand, we demonstrate that the focus on moments of rupture and exception conceals security practices that unfold in ongoing institutional disputes and over the construction of legitimate knowledge about public health. On the other hand, we point out that securitisation theory hinders a genealogy of modern apparatuses of control and neglects violent forms of government which are manifested not in major disruptive acts, but in the everyday dynamics of unequal societies. We conclude by suggesting that an analysis of the bureaucratic disputes and scientific controversies that constitute health security knowledges and practices enables critical approaches to engage with the multiple – and, at times, mundane – processes in which (in)security is produced, circulated, and contested.

Critical Security Studies and Global Health

2018 ◽  
pp. 160-177
Author(s):  
João Nunes
Keyword(s):  
Global Health ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Health Issues ◽  
Regional Stability ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
The Core ◽  
Core Concepts ◽  
Political Dimensions

This chapter argues that Critical Security Studies (CSS), a diverse range of approaches that have questioned traditional ways of conceiving security, can provide a useful set of tools for understanding global health. CSS enables rich analyses of how health problems emerge as matters of security and allows one to discern the underlying conditions that make this possible, as well as the effects of framing diseases as threats. It also shows how health security can be conceived as a layered phenomenon, encompassing not just state and regional stability but also the everyday lives of individuals and groups. The chapter contextualizes and lays out the core tenets of CSS, then shows how some of the core concepts in the CSS literature can be applied to analysis of health issues. Finally, the chapter demonstrates how CSS can function as a privileged entry point into the political dimensions of the current global health regime.

7. Critical Security Studies:

2015 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Mutimer
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
Copenhagen School ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Framework ◽  
The Way

This chapter provides a partial history of the label ‘Critical Security Studies’ and the way it has developed and fragmented since the early 1990s. It considers the primary claims of the major divisions that have emerged within the literatures to which the label has been applied: constructivism, critical theory, and poststructuralism. It looks at the 1994 conference held at York University in Toronto entitled Strategies in Conflict: Critical Approaches to Security Studies, which spawned a book called Critical Security Studies: Concepts and Cases (1997b), and Security: A New Framework for Analysis (1998), which was published to serve as a relatively comprehensive statement of ‘securitization studies’, or the Copenhagen School. The chapter argues that Critical Security Studies needs to foster an ‘ethos of critique’ in either the study or refusal of security. Finally, it examines Ken Booth’s views on poststructuralism as part of a broad Critical Security Studies.

7. Critical Security Studies: A Schismatic History

2018 ◽  
pp. 91-110
Author(s):  
David Mutimer
Keyword(s):  
Critical Theory ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
Copenhagen School ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
History Of ◽  
New Framework ◽  
The Way

This chapter provides a partial history of the label ‘Critical Security Studies’ and the way it has developed and fragmented since the early 1990s. It considers the primary claims of the major divisions that have emerged within the literatures to which the label has been applied: constructivism, critical theory, and poststructuralism. It looks at the 1994 conference held at York University in Toronto entitled Strategies in Conflict: Critical Approaches to Security Studies, which spawned a book called Critical Security Studies: Concepts and Cases (1997b), and Security: A New Framework for Analysis (1998), which was published to serve as a relatively comprehensive statement of ‘securitization studies’, or the Copenhagen School. The chapter argues that Critical Security Studies needs to foster an ‘ethos of critique’ in either the study or refusal of security. Finally, it examines Ken Booth’s views on poststructuralism as part of a broad Critical Security Studies.

Zanieczyszczenie powietrza jako zagrożenie bezpieczeństwa zdrowotnego w Polsce – w świetle teorii sekurytyzacji

2021 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 159-176
Author(s):  
Joanna Stryjek
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollution ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Human Health ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Scientific Debate ◽  
Copenhagen School ◽  
The Eu

Nowadays, air pollution constitutes one of the most serious threats to human health and life. Poland belongs to the group of countries with the highest level of air pollution in the EU and OECD. The scale of the threat posed by air pollution shows its importance when it comes to the health security of the Polish citizens. However, the ongoing (political and scientific) debate on health security in Poland often ignores the problem of air pollution. The aim of the article is to 1) assess the threat currently posed by air pollution to health security in Poland, 2) locate the threat in the area of health security, and 3) analyse the process of transferring the problem of air pollution from the sphere of politics to the area of security, in accordance with the theory of securitization, developed by the Copenhagen School of Security Studies. Qualitative analysis of documents together with the application of the theory of securitization show that, in Poland, the state has started to play the role of an actor securitizing air pollution as an existential threat. Nevertheless, this process is at an early stage, and its further success depends, inter alia, on decisions and possibilities related to taking extraordinary measures to eliminate the threat posed by air pollution.

scholarly journals Lessons from the Covid-19 pandemic: sustainability is an indispensable condition of Global Health Security

2020 ◽  
Vol 23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deisy de Freitas Lima Ventura ◽  
Gabriela Marques di Giulio ◽  
Danielle Hanna Rached
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Universal Access ◽  
Political Agenda ◽  
Global Health Security ◽  
Health Security ◽  
Health Authorities ◽  
Multiple Dimensions ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
The One

Abstract Among the possible developments of the Covid-19 pandemic at the international and national levels is the advancement of the Global Health Security (GHS) agenda. On the one hand, GHS might be able to give priority to health problems on the political agenda-setting, on the other, however, it might open up space for public security actors in decision-making processes to the detriment of the power of health authorities. This article critically analyzes the concept and the progress of the GHS agenda seeking to demonstrate that there can be no security in matters of public health when sustainability in its multiple dimensions is not taken into account. At the end, sustainability has a twofold responsibility: to maintain the consistency and permanence of emergency response actions, especially with investments in public health systems, with universal access, and to minimize the structural causes of pandemics linked to the environment.

The Dilemma of Global South’s Contributions to Critical Security Studies: The African Case

2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (8) ◽  
pp. 912-930
Author(s):  
Kingsley Emeka Ezemenaka ◽  
Chijioke Egwu Ekumaoko
Keyword(s):  
Global South ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
African Countries ◽  
The West ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
Security Models ◽  
The World ◽  
The One

Most states in Africa, if not all, adopt the measures of security theorized, studied, and practiced by the West, yet conflict and insecurity abound. Over-dependency and over-reliance on Western security models culminate in the “one-size fits all” model of critical security studies produced by the West. However, in Africa, insecurity is growing. This paper argues that there is a need for security models that address African countries’ particular cultures, values, and realities, hence our advocacy of afro-democracy. This study introduces the concept of afro-democracy as a model that can facilitate security and development in Africa. It also argues that the field of critical security studies should welcome contributions from other parts of the world, namely the Global South.

Theorizing Feminist Health Security

2021 ◽  
pp. 31-52
Author(s):  
Clare Wenham
Keyword(s):  
Health Policy ◽  
Global Health ◽  
Feminist Theory ◽  
Security Analysis ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Global Health Security ◽  
Pandemic Preparedness ◽  
Health Security

This chapter conceptualises global health security, discussing its genesis and how it has been theorised. First, the chapter establishes that global health security has failed to consider women and the gendered impact of securitised health policy then conversely, explores how feminists have contended with other security debates, through analysing the sub-discipline of feminist security studies (FSS). FSS seeks to understand women within the security terrain but has yet to consider global health as an area of security analysis. The chapter demonstrates why it is so vital to develop a dialogue between feminist theory and global health security for meaningful development in pandemic preparedness and response activities. It also provides a springboard for the following empirical chapters which engage with a range of further feminist concepts to explore the empirical case of Zika and highlight the need to engage with feminist approaches in order to develop a more comprehensive response to health emergencies and ensure truly global health security.

scholarly journals BLACK SEA SECURITY AND ASYMMETRIC MILITARY THREATS IN THE 21ST CENTURY: NEW TRENDS AND NEW CHALLENGES

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (72) ◽  
pp. 223-235
Author(s):  
Vakhtang MAISAIA
Keyword(s):  
Black Sea ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
International Terrorism ◽  
The Black Sea ◽  
Background Spectrum ◽  
Black Sea Region ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
Copenhagen School ◽  
The Impact

The Black Sea region is increasingly becoming a priority on the international agenda. In fact, a regional approach is emerging as actors understand that common problems need tobe addressed jointly. Nevertheless, cooperation efforts are hampered by a number of factors, such as uneven economic and political development within and among countries, nationalist forces, and longstanding animosities between regional players. In this context, it is imperative to foster sound policies aimed at strengthening dialogue and cooperation so as to contain and ultimately resolve conflicts with peaceful means. However, there is little policy-oriented research on the challenges and opportunities for cooperation in the Black Sea region. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of terrorism and its dangers towards the Black Sea region. The work also describes the significance of international terrorism and its general definitions. Besides, the result and findings are based on theoretical studies and assumptions and the result of the analysis of the "Case Study" of the Black Sea region. Case study examines how the Black Sea region influences the spread of terrorism and what threats it poses for this region. Furthermore, the aspects of what makes the region important on international arena are analyzed and the existent and potential security issues are examined, as well as strategicimportance of the region for the EU and NATO is analyzed even from academic framework –“Securitization” theory322. The theory is based on security studies conceptual background and the background spectrum includes: the Copenhagen School and Critical security studies as the type323.Keywords: Black Sea region, Copenhagen School, Critical security studies, Securitization,NATO, EU, Georgia’s national security

scholarly journals Assembling credibility: Knowledge, method and critique in times of ‘post-truth’

2018 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 40-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Claudia Aradau ◽  
Jef Huysmans
Keyword(s):  
International Relations ◽  
Knowledge Creation ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
Critical Approaches ◽  
Knowledge Practice ◽  
Knowledge Claims ◽  
Scientific Standards ◽  
Critical Lines ◽  
Scientific Accomplishment

Critical approaches in security studies have been increasingly turning to methods and standards internal to knowledge practice to validate their knowledge claims. This quest for scientific standards now also operates against the background of debates on ‘post-truth’, which raise pressing and perplexing questions for critical lines of thought. We propose a different approach by conceptualizing validity as practices of assembling credibility in which the transversal formation and circulation of credits and credentials combine with disputes over credence and credulity. This conceptualization of the validity of (critical) security knowledge shifts the focus from epistemic and methodological standards to transepistemic practices and relations. It allows us to mediate validity critically as a sociopolitical rather than strictly scientific accomplishment. Developing such an understanding of validity makes it possible for critical security studies and international relations to displace epistemic disputes about ‘post-truth’ with transversal practices of knowledge creation, circulation and accreditation.

Gangs, Globalization, and Critical Security Studies: Teaching Counternarratives to Public Audiences

2015 ◽  
Vol 2 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Law Enforcement ◽  
The United States ◽  
Security Studies ◽  
Department Of State ◽  
Critical Security Studies ◽  
Gang Affiliation ◽  
Former Gang Member ◽  
The Many ◽  
The One ◽  
Domestic Law

Working on gang issues as a whole demands that I, as a scholar, engage different scales that collapse individual and community, local and global, and that make action and study into indistinguishable partners. It is not just that we need to facilitate one woman’s path toward finding an academic who will help her husband and their family; we need to work on the bigger thing and ask the Department of State to hold itself to at least the same (flawed) standards as domestic law enforcement regarding the use of tattoos to determine gang affiliation. I do not know if this particular push will be successful, because of the heightened security that I discuss below. But being involved in the struggle is itself transformative, because it creates new narrative threads and strengthens possibilities and openings that can lead to change. Sanyika Shakur, also known as Monster Kody, is a former gang member who wrote, “I am a gang expert—period. There are no other gang experts except participants.” His assertion raises a bigger question about study and embodied identity. Whether or not expertise exists in the manner that Shakur is talking about, the need for “expertise” as a putative legal category is evident in the many intersections of gang membership and the law, which are increasingly playing out on transnational stages like the one between the United States and Mexico. The question then becomes how an academic can use purported “expertise” without strengthening the oppressive systems that created those categories in the first place.

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