Security Theory (15)

Module overview

This module provides an overview of theoretical perspectives on security, broadly defined. Drawing on classic and contemporary literature from International Relations and other academic disciplines, we consider the nature of security as a state-of-being or socio-political practice, and we inquire into a series of fundamental questions: security of what? Security for whom? Against what? Over what time period? By what means? At what cost? Throughout the module, attention focuses on what security means in theory and practice, what it could become, and what security should be about and why. The module is informed by ongoing research in the Department of Politics and International Relations (PAIR), and it complements other modules that explore global governance, global ethics, foreign policy, and military strategy. For students enrolled in the MSc International Security and Risk degree, the theory-driven approach in Security Theory complements the issue-based approach in Contemporary Security Challenges (PAIR6002).

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

Student learning will be achieved through a combination of interactive lectures, group-based tutorial discussions and debates, and independent study. Learning activities and assessment tasks are designed to encourage critical thinking, intellectual autonomy, and evidence-based argument.

Study time
Type	Hours
Guided independent study	126
Teaching	24
Total study time	150

Resources & Reading list

Journal Articles

Simon Rushton (2011). 'Global Health Security: Security for Whom? Security from What?’. Political Studies, 4(779-796).

Arnold Wolfers (1952). ‘National Security” as an Ambiguous Symbol’. Political Science Quarterly, 67(4), pp. 481-502.

David A. Baldwin (1997). The Concept of Security. Review of International Studies 23, 23(1), pp. 5-26.

Textbooks

Paul D. Williams (ed.), (2013). Security Studies: An Introduction. New York: Routledge.

Annick T. R. Wibben (2011). Feminist Security Studies: A narrative approach. London: Routledge.

Michael Sheehan (2005). International Security: An Analytical Survey. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.

C. A. J. Coady (2008). Morality and Political Violence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Barry Buzan (1991). People, States and Fear: An Agenda for International Security Studies in the Post-Cold War Era. New York: Harvester Wheatsheaf.

Thierry Balzacq (ed.), (2011). Securitization Theory: How Security Problems Emerge and Dissolve. London: Routedge.

Michael Walzer (2006). Just and Unjust Wars: a Moral Argument with Historical Illustrations. New York: Basic Books.

Myriam Dunn Cavelty and Victor Mauer (eds.) (2010). The Routledge Handbook of Security Studies. London: Routledge.

Ken Booth (ed.) (2005). Critical Security Studies and World Politics. Boulder CO: Lynne Rienner.

Ronnie Lipschutz (ed.) (1995). On Security. Columbia: Columbia University Press.

J. Peter Burgess (ed.) (2010). The Routledge Handbook of New Security Studies. London: Routledge.

Alex J. Bellamy (2006). Just Wars: From Cicero to Iraq. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Columba Poeples and Nick Vaughan-Williams (2010). Critical Security Studies: An Introduction. Routledge: London.

Barry Buzan, Ole Waever, and Jaap de Wilde (1998). Security. A New Framework for Analysis. Boulder: Lynne Reinner.

David Fisher (2011). Morality and War: Can War be Just in the Twenty-First Century?. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Ken Booth and Nicholas J. Wheeler (2008). The Security Dilemma: Fear, Cooperation and Trust in World Politics. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.

Assessment

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Essay	60%
Essay	40%

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Essay	100%

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External