University of St Andrews

This module aims to explore how security is conceptualised within the disciplines of Critical Security and Geopolitical Studies. The point of departure is to explore how security how is security made and unmade through processes of interaction. Addressing this issue raises several important questions about where the boundaries of security begin and end. Does it matter if the boundaries between different spheres of interaction overlap and criss-cross? How do these points of intersection coexist and interact? How can we map the construction and implementation of security in zones of visibility and invisibility? Our aim is to take these questions forward by unpacking several separate yet interrelated security issues ranging from the environment to flags to migration to torture and the media, among others established and emerging scholarly debates. Overall the course argues that the boundaries of security are not just material objects. Instead they are conceptualised as sites of linguistic contestation that empowers and disempowers different modes of action. Taking this viewpoint challenges the idea that the boundaries are becoming redundant in an age of globalization. Mapping how we speak about security, and how this language is put into practice, forces us to acknowledge while boundaries are changing they remain important emblems and modalities of international relations.

Module Catalogue

IR3054 Mapping the Boundaries of Emerging and Evolving Securities

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