Development and Human Security: Whose Security, and from What?

In: International journal / Canadian Institute of International Affairs, Band 57, Heft 2, S. 253-272

Abstract

Expands the work of Cranford Pratt to argue that discourses on broadening the concept of security by linking it with development hinder efforts to institutionalize a more effective approach to human security. It is maintained that major aid donors have interpreted discourses of extended security in ways that preserve the legitimacy of existing structures of the global political economy & draw attention away from "contradictions of contemporary neoliberal globalization that may be complicit in the generation of insecurities for vulnerable individuals & groups worldwide." Evolving views of security & development are traced from the early 20th century, noting that today's conception of human security is rooted in Robert McNamara's (1968) definition that included nonmilitary aspects & the promotion of economic development in poor nations. Broader definitions of security that encompass new threats are described, along with the reality of growing poverty, widening global inequalities, declining aid, shifting aid priorities, state failure to end violent conflicts, & the new political economy of war. Prospects for developing a more human approach to security are discussed. J. Lindroth