Security is taken to be about the pursuit of freedom from threat and the ability of states and societies to maintain their independent identity and their functional integrity against forces of change, which they see as hostile. The bottom line of security is survival, but it also reasonably includes a substantial range of concerns about the conditions of existence. Quite where this range of concerns ceases to merit the urgency of the “security” label (which identifies threats as significant enough to warrant emergency action and exceptional measures including the use of force) and becomes part of everyday uncertainties of life is one of the difficulties of the concept.
Barry Buzan points out that the concept of security was “too narrowly founded”, his goal was to, therefore, offer a “broader framework of security” incorporating concepts that were not previously considered to be part of the security puzzle such as regional security, or the societal and environmental sectors of security. Buzan’s approach is more holistic; and while he primes his analysis with neorealist beliefs such as anarchy, the depth of his analysis is constructivist in that he does not accept the given, but rather explores each element of what he considers to be the security package one by one in order to arrive at a more informed conclusion.
Buzan’s approach is an interesting one as he looks at security from all angles going from micro to macro, also addressing the social aspects of security and how people or societies construct or “securitize” threats. Traditionally belonging to the English School, which can be considered a more pluralistic take on International Relations, Buzan is somewhat of an independent thinker and a reformer. This allowed him to broaden the analysis that existed and give his audience a more complete understanding of the complexities of security with the ability to then apply these concepts to current issues, for example, the war on terrorism. This constructivist approach allows the reader to not only discover Buzan’s reading of security, but also the breakdown of every aspect that contributes to or affects security, from the individual and society to the main referent, which, for Buzan is the state. For Buzan, nothing is a given. This epistemological methodology can be considered one of his greatest contributions to the theory of IR. With this in mind, this paper will attempt to highlight the accomplishments and contributions that Barry Buzan has made to the discipline and theory of IR as well as emphasize the practical aspects of his writings which can allow for a broader understanding of conflicts and issues in the field of International Relations.
As Buzan’s main lens is that of security, that will be the main focus of this work, using it as a means to analyze Buzan and his many contributions to the field. All of this will be done vis-à-vis the question: Does Buzan’s work provide the reader with a greater understanding of the concept of security and how the different levels play into the concept as a whole, or does it merely deconstruct a highly complex issue piecemeal in the levels together at the end leaving the reader and policy maker more unsure than before?
Comments
Post a Comment