Contesting Security

This book investigates to what extent the 'logic of security', which underpins securitization, can be contained, rolled back or dismantled. Attempts to study how and whether desecuritization can be contested is faced with two main obstacles: (1) conflict between proponents of desecuritization and students of emancipation; (2) disagreement between scholars of each camp upon the meaning of the concept they use and upon what it entails in practice. Recent attempts to overcome these obstacles have led to the evolution of two new concepts: resistance and resilience. However, individually, the contribution of these concepts is restricted by their singular interpretation of the subject. One aim of this volume is to bring different approaches that aim to counter security logic to confront one another and substantiate their respective analytical value, through empirical evidence. The book comprises four sections, each investigating one specific modality of contesting security: desecuritization, emancipation, resistance and resilience. The overriding objective of this volume is to clearly map out the different ways in which a dominant register of meaning that shapes a specific security formation is debased. These strategies are examined, compared and assessed, indifferent political and cultural environments. This book will be of much interest to students of critical security studies, securitisation theory, social theory, and IR in general--