Revisionist approaches to security
Petr Ocelík
•MEB401 Teorie bezpečnosti a metodologie / MEB427 Bezpečnost: teorie a koncepty
•19. října 2017

Outline
•Traditional vs. revisionist approaches
•Broadening / deepening
•Reflecting
•Normatizing
•Politicizing

Traditional approaches
•State-centrism: state as a referent object and actor of security.
•Anarchically organized international system.
•Emphasis on military and political threats.
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•Liberals: moderating effects of institutions and interdependencies.
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•   à narrow view of security.

Revisionist approaches: incentives
•Krause and Williams (1996) identify three incentives for revision of traditionalist approach:
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•(1) Ongoing disagreement on definition of security.
•(2) New, post-cold war security environment.
•(3) Inability of security studies to reflect emerging issues.
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Revisionist approaches: broadening / deepening
•Changing international environment brings new security challenges.
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•Broadening: inclusion of other then politico-military threats.
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•Ability of national states to ensure security is diminishing.
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•Deepening: inclusion of referent object other than national state.
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Revisionist approaches: broadening / deepening
Broadening: source of a threat
Deepening: referent object
(preferred level of analysis)
military threats
military and non-military threats
national state
(international system)
(neo)realism, geopolitics
(Copenhagen school, liberalism)
collective non-state actors
(+ domestic, regional, trans-)
culturalism
Copenhagen school, liberalism
individuals, biosphere, complex systems
(+ individual, global)
-
critical approaches, human security
based on Weissová 2004

Philosophical cleavages
Objectivism
Interpretativism
Materialism
(Neo)realism
(Neo)liberalism
Marxism
-
Idealism
Conventional constructivism
Critical constructivism
(critical theories)
Post-structuralism

Revisionist approaches: reflecting
•(Security) research is always situated and context-dependent.
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•Definitions of security and security issues are never neutral - always serve to certain purposes.
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•The academic understanding of security influences understanding of security by political elites.
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•A plurality of interpretations à relativization of security.
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Revisionist approaches: normatizing
•Normative statements: statements about what should be.
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•Robert Cox (1981): problem-solving vs. critical theories.
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•Each definition of security has certain normative consequences.
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Revisionist approaches: politicizing
•Security considerations are integral part of politics.
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•Politicization makes a given issue visible and important.
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•Politicization promotes alternative voices and positions.
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•Researchers should abandon position of “neutral” observers and actively engage in political
struggles over security issues.
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