In this lecture, we will introduce the course structure and content. We will then briefly introduce security studies and war studies as fields and delve a bit deeper into the question of criticality, using critical security studies as our point of entry.

Study questions:

Peoples, Columba & Nick Vaughan-Williams (2021) write about the metaphor of 'the map' in making sense of the field of critical security studies. Explain the main ways of 'mapping' the field that they present; what, according to them, might be some of the benefits and 'drawbacks' of such mapping exercises?
Choose a 'commentary' in Salter et al. (2019). Summarize and reflect on the main argument presented.
Stavrianakis and Stern (2018) argue that militarism and security-- as concepts-- do different analytical and political work. Discuss some of these differences.

Mandatory Reading

Peoples, Columba & Nick Vaughan-Williams (2021). Chapter 1: “Introduction: Mapping critical security studies and travelling without maps” in Columba Peoples & Nick Vaughan-Williams. Critical Security Studies. An Introduction. 3rd edition. London: Routledge.
Salter, Mark B, et al. “Horizon Scan: Critical Security Studies for the next 50 Years.” Security Dialogue 50, no. 4_suppl (August 2019): 9–37. doi:10.1177/0967010619862912.
Stavrianakis, Anna. and Stern, Maria. (2018) ‘Militarism and security: Dialogue, possibilities and limits’,Security Dialogue, 49(1–2), pp. 3–18. doi: 1177/0967010617748528.

Suggested Reading

Williams, Paul and McDonald, Matt (2018). ”An Introduction to Security Studies” in Paul Williams and Matt McDonald (Ed), Security Studies. An Introduction, 3rd edition. London: Routledge.

PP on security from Intro to IR: HT 2022 Security Intro to IR PP.pdf

Maria Stern