The Brazilian View on the Conceptualization of Security: Philosophical, Ethical and Cultural Contexts and Issues.

The chapter focuses on a critical assessment of the latest declaratory policy of the Brazilian government as expressed in the 2005 Brazilian Defence Policy Document. This does not correspond to a white paper or to a national security policy but, as it results from an extensive process of political bargaining, it does express contemporary Brazilian conceptualizations of security authoritatively. We speak of ‘conceptualizations', in the plural form, since it does not express a single, or even a dominant, conception. Its appreciation sets the stage for the historical consideration of the trajectory that can explain its nature, introducing the presentation of the philosophical, ethical, and cultural contexts and issues of the Brazilian conceptualization of security. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]