Evolving lenses to view Security

By INT204 -



Not much unlike what Ken Booth talks about in his paper 'Reflections of a Fallen Realist' with respect to the impact his evolving sense of self has had on his understandings of security, my own ever changing sense of self has definitely impacted the way I view security myself, and I'm entirely sure that this is an experience that most if not all people go through. However not all of them might actively realise it. 


As a kid security would just be that no one kidnaps me on the way to and from school or maybe a friends house, the countermeasure being a simple lesson from our parents to not take, say chocolates for instance, from strangers. As we grew up it became about not just our own security but those of the ones around us as well, and slowly transitioning into the digital world. Today the security of data stored on digital sources, information about us, about insider corporations has become a lot more of a concern than the physical safety of human beings. Even if looked at from a global level, this holds true. 


Many years ago security to a country would be safety from the weapons, soldiers, and rockets of an enemy nation. In 2016 the biggest threat to security was the usage of user data harvested by Cambridge Analytica to gain an edge in the elections held in the United States. Or an even better example would be the safety from mass surveillance done by the National Security Agency or NSA in the United States on other countries. Some may argue that these threats aren't as big as say losing one's life, and while that would be up for debate, these definitely are more difficult to defend from. Furthermore, this could also be a good example of securitisation which is when powerful actors turn something that isn't an issue of security into one that is, and thus using extraordinary means under its name. 


Now privacy, especially in the virtual world was not a concern a few years ago. But the way technological giants worked or even the way the government worked changed, moving towards gathering more information about individuals, about their preferences, likes and dislikes. Now of course earlier, this would simply be for personalising experiences at ease, employing artificial intelligence, to understand and adapt from the user. Data has become the most valuable asset that could be acquired or sold outside. And now we race towards digital privacy, to go back to the way things were, taking outrageous measures like complete network disconnection, establishments of Virtual Private Networks or VPNs just to mention a few. Further the idea of what requires to be secure and what doesn't changes not just with a changing idea of self, but is also influenced by what part of society the individuals belong to. For those in the field of agriculture, security could mean safety for their corps. For a household, it could mean the safety of the members living there and the surrounding community. For a corporation, it would be the confidentiality of the information present within. However, this evolving sense of security does not mean that what could be threatened earlier could not be now. A great example would be Russia invading Ukraine, taking place as I'm typing this out. 


In conclusion, I think it is safe to say that not just as individuals but entire societies have evolved and will continue to evolve in every way possible and thus definitely in terms of what needs to be or what it means to be safe and secure. However this evolution while adds new aspects that need to be secured do not disregard to what has already been proven to be needed such as Gender and taking a feminist approach to security are still necessary. So in a sense it would be accurate to say that the idea of security hasn't but has and continues to become further broad and expansive. 


Bibliography:


  • Shepherd, Laura J. 2008. Gender,Violence and Global Politics: Contemporary Debates in Feminist Security Studies. N.p.: University of Birmingham.

  • Booth, Ken. 1994. Security and Self Reflections of a Fallen Realist.

  • Barry Buzan, Ole Wæver, and Jaap de Wilde, Security: A New Framework for Analysis 



 



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