Research Methods in Critical Security Studies - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0415535409 ISBN 13: 9780415535403

Publisher: Routledge, 2012

Synopsis

This new textbook surveys new and emergent methods for doing research in critical security studies, thereby filling a large gap in the literature of this emerging field.

New or critical security studies is growing as a field, but still lacks a clear methodology; the diverse range of the main foci of study (culture, practices, language, or bodies) means that there is little coherence or conversation between these four schools or approaches.

In this ground-breaking collection of fresh and emergent voices, new methods in critical security studies are explored from multiple perspectives, providing practical examples of successful research design and methodologies. Drawing upon their own experiences and projects, thirty-three authors address the following turns over the course of six comprehensive sections:

• Part I: Research Design
• Part II: The Ethnographic Turn
• Part III: The Practice Turn
• Part IV: The Discursive Turn
• Part V: The Corporeal Turn
• Part VI: The Material Turn

This book will be essential reading for upper-level students and researchers in the field of critical security studies, and of much interest to students of sociology, ethnography and IR.

About this title

About the Author

Mark B. Salter is Professor at the School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa, Canada. He is editor of Mapping Transatlantic Security Relations (Routledge 2010), and author of Rights of Passage: The Passport in International Relations (2003) and Barbarians and Civilization in International Relations (2002).

Can E. Mutlu is a PhD candidate (ABD) at the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa, Canada. He is the Communications Director of the International Political Sociology Section of the International Studies Association (IPS-ISA).

Review

"Finally, critical security studies has its own methodological handbook. It is not only extremely broad in scope, applying methods ranging from participant observation to interviews to discourse analysis, and discussing research design, ethnography, empiricism and writing. But it is also refreshingly reflexive in its approach. Its exploration of method is intimately bound to an advancement of theory, and a critical reflection on the role of the researcher in this sensitive – and often secretive –domain. It is indispensable reading for researchers and students alike, and promises to take this important field of research to a new level."– Marieke de Goede, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

'This textbook moves critical security studies forward in important ways by restoring "methodology" to the full sense of concept and rescuing it from the narrowness imposed by mainstream social science.’ -- Roxanne Lynn Doty, Arizona State University, USA

 

'Wide-ranging and yet systematic, rigorous and yet pluralistic, this volume makes a crucial contribution toward developing innovative methodologies able to terms with the rapidly changing politics of contemporary security. Combining sophisticated conceptual overviews with illustrations of specific research designs in practice, it is a remarkably valuable resource for students and researchers, as well as an inspiring tour d’ horizon of cutting-edge research.' -- Michael C Williams, University of Ottawa, Canada

 

Edition details

• Publisher: Routledge
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0415535409
• ISBN 13: 9780415535403
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 256
• Editor: Salter Mark B.