Coordinators and primary lecturers: J. Peter Burgess (PRIO) and Mark B. Salter (University of Ottawa).
Guest lecturers: Claudia Aradau (King's College, London); Thierry Balzacq (University of Namur, Belgium); Xymena Kurowska (Central European University); Maria Stern (University of Gothenburgh).
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Dates: 14-18 October 2013
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Venue: PRIO, Oslo, Norway
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Credits: 5 ECTS
- Contact and application: kristoffer@prio.no
- Deadline of application: 15 September 2013.
This course provides an introduction and overview to a range of research methods in critical security studies. Its aim is to provide tools and methods to students of critical security studies in support of clear research design and rigorous scholarly methods.
Critical security studies can be understood as a scholarly approach that is attentive to the workings of power and exclusion inherent in social phenomena. Though objects of research can vary considerably, a four basic principles shape the field of critical analysis:
- Social and political life are interwoven without any one unifying principle or logic;
- Agency--the capacity to act--is not reserved to individual human beings, but rather is everywhere;
- Causality is emergent. In other words, critical analysis does not identify what necessarily happens, but rather what the conditions of possibility of something happening are;
- Research, writing and public engagement are inherently political.
Lectures and discussions will emphasize reapplication of classical scientific research questions for the field of critical security studies: sufficient proof, critical position, and coherency of argument, reshaped and reapplied to these four principles.
Readings
The course will build primarily on Research Methods in Critical Security Studies: An Introduction. (Mark B. Salter and Can E. Mutlu, London: Routledge), supplemented by other readings. Lectures will be given by external scholars known for their work in the field of critical security studies. The 5-day course will combine morning lectures with afternoon workshopping of relevant themes, articles, and student papers.
Requirements
One week prior to the course lectures, each student must submit a brief research proposal, related to a current or future project (approximately 500 words). The research proposal should relate to the readings and contain 3 different research paths for achieving its goals.
In order to achieve 5 ECTS, an essay of 3-5000 words must be handed in by 20 November 2013. The essay question should be proposed by 22 October for approval by the organizers. The participants are invited to relate the essay to the methods chapter of their dissertation.
Admission
The deadline of application is 15 September 2013. Applicants should include details about their university affiliation and a paragraph on their doctoral research (except for members of the research school, who just register). Please send your application by e-mail to the Research School Coordinator, Kristoffer Lidén at kristoffer@prio.no.
There is no participation fee, but the cost of travel and accommodation, if needed, must be covered by the participants. No financial assistance is available. Applicants will be notified about the outcome of their application as quickly as possible after the deadline.
Lectures
Day 1 / 14 October: Introduction to critical security research methods and design
10.15-12.00 Lecture (Burgess & Salter). Readings:
- Salter, ‘Research design: Introduction’
- Guillaume, ‘Criticality’
- Squire, ‘Attending to mess’
- c.a.s.e. collective, ‘Critical approaches to security in Europe’
13.15-15.00 Seminar
Day 2 / 15 October: Discourse and discursive approaches
10.15-12.00 Lecture (Thierry Balzacq). Readings:
- Balzacq, ‘Enquiries into methods’
- Anaïs, ‘Objects of security’
- Lobo-Guerrero, ‘Archives’
- Neal, ‘Legislative practices’
13.15-15.00 Seminar
Day 3 / 16 October: The practical and the role of the observer
10.15-12.00 (Xymena Kurowska). Readings:
- Hughs, ‘The practice of writing’
- Law, ‘After method: An introduction’
- Friedrichs and Kratochwil, ‘On acting and knowing’
- Kurowska and Tallis, ‘Chaismatic crossings’
13.15-15.00 Seminar
Day 4 / 17 October: The new materiality
10.15-12.00 (Claudia Aradau). Readings:
- Aradau, ‘Infrastructure’
- Voelkner, ‘Tracing human security assemblages’
- Barad, ‘Posthumanist performativity: toward an understanding of how matter comes to matter’
- Adey and Anderson, ‘Anticipating emergencies’
13.15-15.00 Seminar
Day 5 / 18 October: Gender and the corporeal turn
10.15-12.00 (Maria Stern). Readings:
- Wiebe, ‘Affective terrain: approaching the field in Aamjiwnaang’
- Shinko, ‘Theorizing the body in IR’
- Crane-Seeber, ‘Learning by feeling’
- Shinko, ‘Ethics after liberalism: Why (autonomous) bodies matter’.
13.15-15.00 Seminar
Bibliography
Adey, Peter and Ben Anderson (2012) ‘Anticipating Emergencies: Technologies of preparedness and the matter of security’ Security Dialogue 43(2): 99-117.
Anaïs, Seantal (2013) ‘Objects of Security/objects of research: analyzing non-lethal weapons’ in Mark B. Salter and Can E. Mutlu (eds) Research Methods in Critical Security Studies, NY: Routledge: 195-198.
Aradau, Claudia (2013) ‘Infrastructure’ in Mark B. Salter and Can E. Mutlu (eds) Research Methods in Critical Security Studies, NY: Routledge: 181-185.
Balzacq, Thierry (2011) ‘Enquiries into methods: a new framework for securitization analysis’ in Thierry Balzacq (ed) Securitization Theory: How security problems emerge and dissolve, NY: Routledge: 31-53.
Barad, Karen (2003) ‘Posthumanist performativity: toward an understanding of how matter comes to matter’ Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society 28(3): 801-831.
c.a.s.e. collective (2006) ‘Critical Approaches to Security In Europe: A Networked Manifesto’, Security Dialogue 37(4): 443-487.
Crane-Seeber, Jesse Paul (2013) ‘Learning by feeling’ in Mark B. Salter and Can E. Mutlu (eds) Research Methods in Critical Security Studies, NY: Routledge: 72-75.
Friedrich, Jörg and Friedrich Kratochwil (2009) ‘On Acting and Knowing: How pragmatism can advance international relations research and knowing’ International Organization 63(4): 701-731.
Guillaume, Xavier (2013) ‘Criticality’ in Mark B. Salter and Can E. Mutlu (eds) Research Methods in Critical Security Studies, NY: Routledge: 29-32.
Hughes, Hannah R. (2013) ‘The Practice of Writing’ in Mark B. Salter and Can E. Mutlu (eds) Research Methods in Critical Security Studies, NY: Routledge: 93-96.
Kurowska, Xymena and Benjamin C. Tallis (2013) ‘Chiasmatic crossings: a reflexive revisit of a research encounter in European security’ Security Dialogue 44(1): 73-89.
Law, John (2004) ‘After Method: an introduction’ in After Method: Mess in Social Science Research. NY: Routledge: 1-17.
Lobo-Guerrero, Luis (2013) ‘Archives’ in Mark B. Salter and Can E. Mutlu (eds) Research Methods in Critical Security Studies, NY: Routledge: 121-124.
Neal, Andrew W. (2013) ‘Legislative Practices’ in Mark B. Salter and Can E. Mutlu (eds) Research Methods in Critical Security Studies, NY: Routledge: 125-128.
Salter, Mark B. (2013) ‘Research Design: Introduction’ in Mark B. Salter and Can E. Mutlu (eds) Research Methods in Critical Security Studies, NY: Routledge:15-24.
Shinko, Rosemary E. (2010) ‘Ethics after Liberalism: Why (autonomous) bodies matter’ 38(3): 723-745.
Shinko, Rosemary E. (2013) ‘Theorizing the body in IR’ in Mark B. Salter and Can E. Mutlu (eds) Research Methods in Critical Security Studies, NY: Routledge: 162-164
Squire, Vicki (2013) ‘Attuning to mess’ in Mark B. Salter and Can E. Mutlu (eds) Research Methods in Critical Security Studies, NY: Routledge: 37-41.
Voelkner, Nadine (2013) ‘Tracing human security assemblages’ in Mark B. Salter and Can E. Mutlu (eds) Research Methods in Critical Security Studies, NY: Routledge: 203-206.
Wiebe, Sarah Marie (2013) ‘Affective terrain: approaching the field in Aamjiwnaang’ in Mark B. Salter and Can E. Mutlu (eds) Research Methods in Critical Security Studies, NY: Routledge: 158-161.