Security and the problem of context: a hermeneutical critique of securitisation theory.

How do we know when we are dealing with security issue? This is a cardinal question in Security Studies, and securitisation theory provides and authoritative yet incomplete answer, mainly because it rules out that the meaning of security can vary contextually. To overcome this limitation, we need a...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Publicado en:Review of International Studies Vol. 35; no. 2; pp. 301 - 327
Autor principal: CIUTĂ, FELIX
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Cambridge University Press Apr2009
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
Descripción
Sumario:How do we know when we are dealing with security issue? This is a cardinal question in Security Studies, and securitisation theory provides and authoritative yet incomplete answer, mainly because it rules out that the meaning of security can vary contextually. To overcome this limitation, we need a hermeneutical perspective centred on the liminality of security as a category in-between theory and policy, which produces a more precise algorithm for empirical research. A contextual hermeneutics of security signals that normative awareness is necessary even in the absence of a unifying normative manifesto, also confronts the spectre of the "death of security" invoked by those who object to the potentially endless broadening of its meaning.