�Security from Below� in Contexts of Chronic Violence

2009

Scientia Militaria - South African Journal of Military Studies, 2012

IDS Working Papers, 2011

The Institute of Development Studies is one of the world's leading charities for research, teaching and communications on international development. Founded in 1966, the Institute enjoys an international reputation based on the quality of its work and the rigour with which it applies academic skills to real world challenges. Its purpose is to understand and explain the world, and to try to change it -to influence as well as to inform.

This introductory chapter provides an overview of how and why development and security interact, highlighting why this interaction matters in the context of debates about whether to include a goal for achieving peaceful and inclusive societies in the post-2015 global development framework. The chapter summarizes the state of play (up to late 2014) regarding the integration of such a goal into the post-2015 development agenda and provides an overview of efforts to develop specific goals, targets, and indicators dealing with security, safety, and armed violence. Regardless of the outcome of the post-2015 negotiations, such efforts will be relevant to whatever new development framework emerges.

Revista Panamericana de Salud …, 2010

Violence negatively affects national development potential. It discourages democratization and rule of law (1), erodes capacities for building social capital, and reduces social and political participation (2). Instead of serving the citizens, state agents and authorities use violence as a means of enrichment and to perpetuate nondemocratic power structures (3). Violence is a threat to essential liberties and human rights-in particular, the right to life without fearand is recognized as a serious public health problem (4). Violence kills more than 1.6 million people a year, mostly in developing countries, and injures many more (5). The health sector that treats these injuries bears the main burden of nonfatal cases of violence. Violence leads to lost production, expanded criminal justice costs, and increased social problems, such as family disintegration, thus undermining development potential (1, 6-8). The global average homicide rate in 2000 was estimated at 8.8 (per 100 000 population) (5). Western Europe was the world's safest region, with homicide rates ranging from 0.7 to 2.2. However, in the world's most dangerous region-middle-and low-income Americas-the rate was 27.5, three times the world average. Males aged 15 to 29, living in the low-and middle-income region of the Americas had a homicide rate of 89.7 (5), 12 times higher than that for young women in that area. This article explores the potential for reducing violence by building preventive strategies and tactics for societies with a statistically high risk of violence. This integrated framework aims to mobilize nations struggling with complex violence and insecuritiessuch as postconflict countries and repressive regimes in Central America 3 to inscribe systemic and integrated violence reduction approaches in their national development strategy. It seeks to analyze the root causes, risks, and protective factors associated with violence; relevant rights; and obligations; and to encour-SYNOPSIS This article explores the violence reduction potential in the intersection between health, criminal justice, and development. It emphasizes public health, rule of law, and equalitydriven socioeconomic development as principal concerns in preventing violence. In parts of Latin America, violence has become a serious public health and security problem. Prior studies have explored the risk factors associated with violence as well as experiences in its prevention. These studies and existing approaches to violence prevention provide evidence on where to direct attention and build prevention efforts. This article argues for integrated community-driven and national interventions to create cooperative nationallocal linkages and embed international human rights law at the national and local levels. Nations struggling with violence should be encouraged to apply an integrated framework to prevent violence and reinforce human security.

International Peacekeeping, 2009

2012

During the last 100 years, the concept of security has been used to justify war, revolution, torture, assassinations and invasions. The post-9/11 Us invasions national security, and the threat of terrorism to domestic and international security was invoked to justify radical counterterrorism measures such as extended police and intelligence powers, as well as torture, extraordinary rendition and detention without charge (see michaelsen 2005; Waldron 2006). security. should the term 'security' refer to a state's military power, as traditional security studies have claimed (Buzan 1983)? or should security be understood as if so, how does national security relate to human security and how are we to assess idea of security could easily become a meaningless concept that could be used to justify almost any policy that a state wishes to pursue. 1 as a political goal for states and individuals, what constitutes threats to security, how security is to be weighed against other political ideals, and which measures will increase security for states and individuals. only then can we be in a position 1 s teve smith has argued that the concept of security is 'essentially contested'; that any apparent, i disagree with this view. The fact that it may be impossible for states and from a particular political theory and that captures the moral importance of security.

Ids Working Papers, 2009

These two papers add further dimensions to the discussions in IDS Bulletin 40.2 (March 2009) on ‘Transforming Security and Development in an Unequal World’ edited by Robin Luckham, Niagalé Bagayoko, Lucia Dammert, Claudio Fuentes and Michael Solis. Like the contributions to the latter, they were first discussed at the founding Colloquium of the Global Consortium for Security Transformation held at Kandalama, Sri Lanka in September 2007.Niagalé Bagayoko's paper on ‘State, Non-State and Multilateral Logics of Action in Post-Conflict Environments’ considers the complexities of Northern policymaking and their impacts in post-conflict countries. It thus differs from but complements IDS Bulletin 40.2, which focuses mostly on security and development from a Southern perspective.She argues that a number of different policy logics are at work in the security, development, humanitarian and media etc domains, which are sometimes coordinated – but often in tension with – each other. Her approach thus differs from that of certain critical voices in the NGO and academic worlds, which hold that there is a danger that Northern security priorities might ‘securitise’ the humanitarian and development agendas, particularly in post-conflict environments. While these dangers are real, nevertheless one should not stereotype all international actors as ‘Northern’ or as promoting Northern security (e.g. anti-terrorist) agendas. It is instead more fruitful to view such actors as diverse players with conflicting interests that operate according to different policy logics.Lyndsay McLean Hilker's paper on ‘Why Identity Politics Matters for Security and What Follows for Research and Policy’ spells out a general framework for analysis of identity-based violent conflict, drawing upon empirical examples, including Rwanda, where she has focused her own research. It is unique in its focus on the implications of analysis and research on identity politics for development policy.She contends that identity politics matter both to the persistence of insecurity and to the achievement of greater security. Evidence from multiple contexts demonstrates that identity provides an effective basis for group mobilisation into collective action – both violent and non-violent in nature. If we are to work to combat insecurity at the local as well as the global level, we need to look in more depth at the processes leading to violence in the name of identity in specific contexts, and explore the types of interventions that can prevent and respond to such violence. It is especially important to understand under what circumstances identity politics can be exercised in ways that are inclusive and empowering rather than exclusionary or violent.