CONTEMPORARY THEORY AND ANALYSIS OF SECURITY (JPM569)

Transcription

1 CONTEMPORARY THEORY AND ANALYSIS OF SECURITY (JPM569) Course description WS 2014/2015 (4 ECTS) Thursday 12:30-14:00 (J4020) Lecturers: Dagmar Rychnovská Jakub Záhora The aim of this course is to introduce selected contemporary theoretical and analytical approaches to security. The first part of the course describes the key developments in security research after the end of the Cold War and focuses on the discursive and practical turns in studying security. The second part of the course explores methodological tools used in (critical) security studies. Its goal is to discuss general methodological and philosophical assumptions underpinning critical social research, as well as distinct methods used in the contemporary security research. Aim of the course After completion of the course, students shall understand the main concepts used in contemporary security studies. With the help of the newly acquired analytical skills, they shall be able to critically reflect on the dynamics of how threats and risks are constructed in modern societies and how they are dealt with politically. They shall also have basic knowledge of research methods used in the critical approaches to security research and be able to apply them in their own projects. Structure of the course 1) Roots of critical thinking on (international) security 9/10/2014 (Záhora) (Buzan and Hansen 2009: ch. 5 and 7, Krause and Williams 1996) Roots of critical approaches to security studies Post-Cold War debates on reformulation the notion of security Contemporary security research 1

2 2) Discursive construction of security 23/10/2014 (Záhora) (Buzan et al. 1998: ch. 1, Stritzel 2007, Balzacq 2011b) Linguistic turn in security studies Securitization theory and its criticism 3) The practice of security 6/11/2014 (Rychnovská) (Balzacq et al. 2010, Bigo 2008, Neumann 2002) Practice turn in security studies Security practices and (in)securitization 4) Methodology of critical security research 20/11/2014 (Rychnovská) (Ryan 2006, Salter 2013, Balzacq 2011a) Introduction to research methods and research design in critical security studies Reflexivity and abductive reasoning 5) Critical security methods 4/12/2014 (Záhora) (Wilkinson 2013, Bueger 2014, Mutlu and Salter 2013, Lobo-Guerro 2013) Distinct methods: linguistic methods (discourse analysis, content analysis), praxeological approaches, ethnography 6) Security politics and contemporary theory 18/12/2014 (Rychnovská) (Hagmann and Dunn Cavelty 2012, Guillaume 2013, Neal 2013, Hynek and Chandler 2013) Normative and practical challenges of security research Criticality and the role of the researcher Course requirements Active participation (20%): Students are supposed to read the required literature (please note that there are required readings already for the first session), prepare for the classes and be able to critically assess the literature and put it in a broader context. More than one absence during the semester shall be documented by a medical proof or similarly relevant document. 2

3 Two short papers (25%): Each participant shall compose two brief papers of ca words. Instructions to each paper will be specified in the seminar (the first paper is due 18 th November, the second one due 16 th December 2014). Research paper (55%): Each participant is required to prepare a final paper (4 000 to words) related to the topic of the course which is to be handed in by 18 th January The topic shall be discussed with the lecturer(s) and before the last session, each student shall prepare a brief research design (deadline 17 th December 2014), outlining the research question, theoretical framework of the paper, empirical case(s) (if applicable) and the key literature to be used. Late submissions of the papers will be subject to grade penalty (minus 2% from the total score for each day after the deadline). Evaluation Excellent % Very good 74-87% Good 60-73% Fail 0-59% 3

4 Literature Balzacq, Thierry (2011a) Enquiries into methods: A new framework for securitization analysis, in Balzacq, Thierry (ed.) Securitization Theory: How Security Problems Emerge and Dissolve. London and New York: Routledge: Balzacq, Thierry (2011b) A theory of securitization: origins, core assumptions, and variants, in Balzacq, Thierry (ed.) Securitization Theory: How Security Problems Emerge and Dissolve. London and New York: Routledge: Balzacq, Thierry, Tugba Basaran, Didier Bigo, Emmanuel-Pierre Guitter and Christian Olsson (2010) Security Practices, International Studies Encyclopaedia, Oxford: Blackwell. Bigo, Didier (2008) Globalized (in)security: the field and the ban-opticon, in Bigo, Didier and Anastassia Tsoukala (eds.) Terror, Insecurity and Liberty: Illiberal Practices of Liberal Regimes after 9/11. Oxon and New York: Routledge: Bueger, Christian (2014) Pathways to practice: praxiography and international politics, European Political Science Review, 6 (3): Buzan, Barry and Lene Hansen (2009) The Evolution of International Security Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Buzan, Barry, Ole Wæver and Jaap de Wilde (1998) Security: A New Framework for Analysis. Boulder, Colo.; London: Lynne Rienner Publishers. Guillaume, Xavier (2013) Criticality, in Salter, Mark B. and Can E. Mutlu (eds.) Research Routledge: Hagmann, Jonas and Myriam Dunn Cavelty (2012) National Risk Registers: Security Scientism and the Propagation of Permanent Insecurity, Security Dialogue, 43 (1): Hynek, Nik and David Chandler (2013) No emancipatory alternative, no critical security studies, Critical Studies on Security, 1 (1): Krause, Keith and Michael C. Williams (1996) Broadening the Agenda of Security Studies: Politics and Methods, Mershon International Studies Review, 40 (2):

5 Lobo-Guerrero, Louis (2013) Archives, in Salter, Mark B. and Can E. Mutlu (eds.) Research Routledge: Mutlu, Can E. and Mark B. Salter (2013) The Discursive Turn. Introduction, in Salter, Mark B. and Can E. Mutlu (eds.) Research Methods in Critical Security Studies: An Introduction. London and New York: Routledge: Neal, Andrew (2013) Empiricism without positivism, in Salter, Mark B. and Can E. Mutlu (eds.) Research Methods in Critical Security Studies: An Introduction. London and New York: Routledge: Neumann, Iver B. (2002) Returning Practice to the Linguistic Turn: The Case of Diplomacy, Millennium-Journal of International Studies, 31 (3): Ryan, Anne B. (2006) Post-positivist approaches to research, in Antonesa, M. et al. (eds.) Researching and Writing your Thesis: a guide for postgraduate students. Maynooth: National University of Ireland: Salter, Mark B. (2013) Introduction, in Salter, Mark B. and Can E. Mutlu (eds.) Research Routledge: Stritzel, Holger (2007) Towards a Theory of Securitization: Copenhagen and Beyond, European Journal of International Relations, 13 (3): Wilkinson, Cai (2013) Ethnographic Methods, in: Shepherd, Laura J. (ed.) Critical Approaches to Security. An Introduction to Theories and Methods. London and New York: Routledge: