The Morality of Security

Rita Floyd is Lecturer in Conflict and Security at the Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham. Her books include Security and the Environment: Securitisation Theory and US Environmental Security Policy (Cambridge, 2010) and her articles have appeared in journals including the Review of International Studies, Security Dialogue, and the Journal of International Relations and Development, amongst others.

'As security increasingly pervades contemporary societies, so the ethics of securitization have become pressing questions. Rita Floyd's finely crafted study provides a wide-ranging appraisal of the issues at stake and a challenging framework for addressing them. Taking on some of the most important issues in contemporary political life, The Morality of Security is sure to inform and provoke debate for years to come.' Michael C. Williams, University of Ottawa

• Introduction; Just securitization: raison d'être and feasibility; Just securitization theory: basic ideas; Research questions and suggested criteria of just securitization and just desecuritization; Overview of all chapters; 1. Ethics and the study of security; 1.1. Introduction; 1.2. Security: a two-fold distinction; 1.3. The ethics of security as a state of being; 1.4. The ethics of security as a set of social and political practices; 1.5. Conclusion; 2. Framework: the meaning of securitization and the method of JST; 2.1. Introduction; 2.2. The meaning of securitization in Just Securitization Theory; 2.3. Method; 2.4 Conclusion; 3. Just initiation of securitization: just reason; 3.1. Introduction; 3.2. The just reason; 3.3. Threat categories; 3.4. Agent-intended threats; 3.5. Agent-lacking threats; 3.6. Agent-caused threats; 3.7. Future objective existential threats; 3.8. Conclusion; 4. Just initiation of securitization: just referent object; 4.1. Introduction; 4.2. The just referent object; 4.3. Human needs as a measure of human well-being; 4.4. Needs satisfaction, scale and moral justification; 4.5. Political and social orders; 4.6. Ecosystems and non-human species; 4.7. Human beings; 4.8. Conclusion; 5. Just initiation of securitization: right intention, macro-proportionality and reasonable chance of success; 5.1. Introduction; 5.2. Sincerity of intention; 5.3. Macro-proportionality; 5.4. Reasonable chance of success; 5.5. Omissions: Legitimate authority and last resort; 5.6. Conclusion; 6. Just conduct in securitization; 6.1. Introduction; 6.2. Targeted security measures; 6.3. Least harmful option; 6.4. Just conduct of executors of securitization; 6.5. Moral exemptions to just conduct in securitization; 6.6. Moral culpability and individual agents in unjust securitization; 6.7. Conclusion; 7. Just termination of securitization; 7.1. Introduction; 7.2. What is the meaning of desecuritization in Just Securitization Theory?; 7.3. Does just desecuritization need to follow from just securitization?; 7.4. Who can desecuritize?; 7.5. Who is required to desecuritize?; 7.6. Timing; 7.7. Action; 7.8. Long-term aim; 7.9. Conclusion.