1. Global Civil Society and Human Security Initiatives: Towards Transformative or Reformative Change?
- Author
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Shawki, Noha
- Subjects
- *
INTERNATIONAL relations , *HUMAN rights , *INTERNATIONAL security , *CIVIL society , *COLD War, 1945-1991 - Abstract
Recently introduced by critical security theorists into the literature on international relations, the concept of ?human security?, as opposed to state-centric or traditional security, identifies individuals and collectivities as the objects of security and emphasizes human rights, good governance, and, more generally, quality of life issues as the central dimensions of (international) security. Although the concept of human security has received considerable attention, some of the core arguments and hypotheses put forward by critical security theorists have not been empirically tested. This paper attempts to empirically address one of the most interesting and intriguing hypotheses advanced by critical security theorists. This hypothesis identifies global civil society as the central agent of change in international security and posits that transformative human security initiatives will emerge in global civil society in the post Cold War era, transformative initiatives being initiatives that represent a fundamental change in ideas about the nature and object of international security. In two case studies of initiatives concerned with (human) security, namely, the Kimberley Process and Jubilee 2000, this paper attempts to explore the questions of whether or not global civil society has been the source of transformative security initiatives over the past 10-15 years since the end of the Cold War, and of whether or not it has been successful. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2004
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