Revolutionary Securitization: An Anthropological Extension of Securitization Theory
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Revolutionary Securitization : An Anthropological Extension of Securitization Theory. / Holbraad, Martin; Pedersen, Morten Axel.
In: International Theory , Vol. 4, No. 2, 2012, p. 165-197.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review
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TY - JOUR
T1 - Revolutionary Securitization
T2 - An Anthropological Extension of Securitization Theory
AU - Holbraad, Martin
AU - Pedersen, Morten Axel
PY - 2012
Y1 - 2012
N2 - This article proposes an anthropological extension of the so-called Copenhagen School theory of securitization in International Relations. In contrast to existing attempts to show how, suitably elaborated, this model can be ‘applied’ to various non-Western contexts, our anthropological strategy is to use the contingency of empirical materials (namely the Cuban Revolution and the political forms it instantiates) as a means for transforming the basic coordinates of the model itself. The argument involves two main steps. First we relativize the Copenhagen School model, showing the contingency of its premises. In its paradigmatic form, we argue, the model is liberal in that its abiding concern with states of emergency turns on an ontological distinction between political subjects (e.g. people) and political structures (e.g. state). By contrast, revolutionary politics in Cuba concertedly rescinds just this distinction, to bring about an alternative, non-liberal political ontology. We then go on to use the Cuban case to construct an alternative model of securitization, which we call revolutionary. On this model, the move of securitization pertains, not to a passage from ordinary politics into a realm of emergency, but to a deliberate ontological fusion of the two, such that rule and exception also become coterminous.
AB - This article proposes an anthropological extension of the so-called Copenhagen School theory of securitization in International Relations. In contrast to existing attempts to show how, suitably elaborated, this model can be ‘applied’ to various non-Western contexts, our anthropological strategy is to use the contingency of empirical materials (namely the Cuban Revolution and the political forms it instantiates) as a means for transforming the basic coordinates of the model itself. The argument involves two main steps. First we relativize the Copenhagen School model, showing the contingency of its premises. In its paradigmatic form, we argue, the model is liberal in that its abiding concern with states of emergency turns on an ontological distinction between political subjects (e.g. people) and political structures (e.g. state). By contrast, revolutionary politics in Cuba concertedly rescinds just this distinction, to bring about an alternative, non-liberal political ontology. We then go on to use the Cuban case to construct an alternative model of securitization, which we call revolutionary. On this model, the move of securitization pertains, not to a passage from ordinary politics into a realm of emergency, but to a deliberate ontological fusion of the two, such that rule and exception also become coterminous.
U2 - 10.1017/S1752971912000061
DO - 10.1017/S1752971912000061
M3 - Journal article
VL - 4
SP - 165
EP - 197
JO - International Theory
JF - International Theory
SN - 1752-9719
IS - 2
ER -
ID: 38066693