Critical Voices and Human Security: To Endure, To Engage or To Critique?

In: Security dialogue, Volume 41, Issue 2, p. 169-190

Abstract

Narratives of human security have been widely adopted and adapted within both academic and policy communities. Despite debates over its meanings and uses, the concept has proven to be remarkably resilient. In particular, there has a been a surprising willingness by critical scholars not only to analyse and critique human security, but also to embrace it as a means of furthering political goals. This article maps the ways in which various strands of critical scholarship in international relations have striven to use human security. It concludes by arguing that human security has lost any true critical potential and has become a new orthodoxy. Thus, while the concept may have value in highlighting particular issues and may enable short-term gains, it is unable to provide the basis for a substantive change of the system of international security.