Karin M. Fierke - Böcker

During the Cold War the concept of international security was understood in military terms as the threat or use of force by states. The end of EastÐWest hostilities, however, brought ‘critical’ perspectives to the fore as scholars sought to explain the emergence of new challenges to international stability, such as environmental degradation, immigration and terrorism.  The second edition of this popular and highly respected text offers a wide-ranging and comprehensive analysis of the growing field of critical security studies.  All the chapters have been fully revised and updated to map the on-going evolution of debates about international security since 1989, including the more recent shift in emphasis from critiques of the realist practices of states to those of global liberal governance.  Topics covered include the relationship between security and change, identity, the production of danger, fear and trauma, human insecurity and emancipation. The book explores the meaning and use of these concepts and their relevance to real-life situations ranging from the War on Terror to the Arab Spring, migration, suffering in war, failed states and state-building, and the changing landscape of the international system, with the emergence of a multipolar world and the escalation of global climate change.   Written with verve and clarity and incorporating new seminar activities and questions for class discussion, this book will be an invaluable resource for students of international relations and security studies.

During the Cold War the concept of international security was understood in military terms as the threat or use of force by states. The end of EastÐWest hostilities, however, brought ‘critical’ perspectives to the fore as scholars sought to explain the emergence of new challenges to international stability, such as environmental degradation, immigration and terrorism.  The second edition of this popular and highly respected text offers a wide-ranging and comprehensive analysis of the growing field of critical security studies.  All the chapters have been fully revised and updated to map the on-going evolution of debates about international security since 1989, including the more recent shift in emphasis from critiques of the realist practices of states to those of global liberal governance.  Topics covered include the relationship between security and change, identity, the production of danger, fear and trauma, human insecurity and emancipation. The book explores the meaning and use of these concepts and their relevance to real-life situations ranging from the War on Terror to the Arab Spring, migration, suffering in war, failed states and state-building, and the changing landscape of the international system, with the emergence of a multipolar world and the escalation of global climate change.   Written with verve and clarity and incorporating new seminar activities and questions for class discussion, this book will be an invaluable resource for students of international relations and security studies.

The constructivist approach is the most important new school in the field of postcold war international relations. Constructivists assume that interstate and interorganizational relations are always at some level linguistic contexts. Thus they bridge IR theory and social theory. This book explores the constructivist approach in IR as it has been developing in the larger context of social science worldwide, with younger IR scholars building anew on the tradition of Wittgenstein, Habermas, Luhman. Foucault, and others. The contributors include Friedrich Kratochwil, Harald Muller, Matthias Albert, Jennifer Milliken, Birgit Locher-Dodge and Elisabeth Prugl, Ben Rosamond, Nicholas Onuf, Audie Klotz, Lars Lose, and the editors.

The constructivist approach is the most important new school in the field of postcold war international relations. Constructivists assume that interstate and interorganizational relations are always at some level linguistic contexts. Thus they bridge IR theory and social theory. This book explores the constructivist approach in IR as it has been developing in the larger context of social science worldwide, with younger IR scholars building anew on the tradition of Wittgenstein, Habermas, Luhman. Foucault, and others. The contributors include Friedrich Kratochwil, Harald Muller, Matthias Albert, Jennifer Milliken, Birgit Locher-Dodge and Elisabeth Prugl, Ben Rosamond, Nicholas Onuf, Audie Klotz, Lars Lose, and the editors.

Taking a broadly interdisciplinary approach, this book provides a unique angle on the COVID-19 pandemic and its implications for global theory and practice. The book bridges two important debates regarding the relevance of quantum theory to the social sciences, and the pressing need for a more global international relations (IR). It brings the parallels between quantum physics and ancient Asian traditions – Daoism, Buddhism and Hinduism – to an investigation of mind, action and strategy in conditions of radical uncertainty. Engaging with both theory and real-world problems, including climate change, the COVID-19 pandemic and economic and racial inequality, this book explores what it might mean to successfully navigate the potentials of a post-pandemic world.