The ‘Western-Centrism’ of Security Studies: ‘Blind Spot’ or Constitutive Practice?

Abstract

Unlike some other staples of security studies that do not even register the issue, Buzan & Hansen’s (2009) The Evolution of International Security Studies unambiguously identifies ‘Western-centrism’ as a problem. This article seeks to make the point, however, that treating heretofore-understudied insecurities (such as those experienced in the non-West) as a ‘blind spot’ of the discipline may prevent us from fully recognizing the ways in which such ‘historical absences’ have been constitutive of security both in theory and in practice. Put differently, the discipline’s ‘Western-centric’ character is no mere challenge for students of security studies. The ‘historical absence’ from security studies of non-Western insecurities and approaches has been a ‘constitutive practice’ that has shaped (and continues to shape) both the discipline and subjects and objects of security in different parts of the world.