What is it about?
This article explores a possible connection between Christian philosophy in the Reformational tradition and the field of security studies. It attempts to review some of the definitions of "security" and then sketches a new definition.
Featured Image
Why is it important?
This article is a unique application of Herman Dooyeweerd's reformational philosophy to the field of security studies. It indicates how "security" could be redefined in light of Dooyeweerd's Christian and Reformational (Neocalvinist) approach. The new view of security, if implemented, would offer a non-reductionist concept in theory and a more balanced practice in policy-making. The article speaks particularly to an audience interested in how the Christian worldview should have an impact in scholarship, resulting in practical implications as well.
Perspectives
I wrote an initial draft of this paper for the 2nd Kuyper Seminar hosted by the VU University in Amsterdam. Policymakers, think tank people, as well as scholars, met on that occasion to discuss the connection between the Kuyperian and Reformational tradition of Christian thought and particular fields in global politics and policy-making. The initial attempt was to provide a critical reading of the so-called "securitization" approach of Buzan, Waever and de Wilde from a Reformational perspective. The final article, however, interacts with securitization and also with the broader field of security studies and also suggests a new way to define security that could possibly lead to a new theory and a new practice of security in international relations and domestic policy.
Dr Lucas G Freire
Mackenzie Center for Economic Freedom
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Security Studies: Towards a Reformational Approach, Philosophia Reformata, May 2016, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/23528230-08101001.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
