Shifting Perspectives: Self and Food Security in Yemen
Our understanding of the self I think greatly depends on our exposure to the world and the various lenses with which we can view it. Different lenses dominate our understanding of the world as we progress academically and otherwise. If I were to understand a specific security issue a year or so ago, I think my choice would pre-dominantly consist of a state-centric and maybe even a militarized approach. However, I realize that as time passes by, my interest in the building blocks that constitute a 'state' has grown. And that has to an extent fueled my choice of understanding as basic as food insecurity in conflict-ridden areas such as Yemen. Not to mention that food is a part of me not just for physical survival, but also on a cultural front and as something of interest. Moreover, the humanitarian crisis in Yemen provides an interesting window, not one but multiple security issues. This complexity of issues and actors compelled me to look at not just the plight of individuals in this conflict, but also view it from the perspective of food insecurity as a form of violence. In this post, I am to discuss the turning point of my understanding of self through the issue of the humanitarian crisis in Yemen and conceptualize violence as not just physically perpetrated. I also aim to contrast different theoretical perspectives on the crisis.
To begin with, changes within the international system do compel one to shift their focus to a different issue, and Ken Booth provides an interesting aspect of how even though this may be the case, there is a lot that goes on within the individual that shifts his/her/their focus. In the case of the Yemenis crisis, my first focus was the armed conflict and its political implications. However, when I came across the issue of food security, it resonated with me on a personal level given that food is an intricate part of me. It also seemed like an essential topic not just about the survival of individuals, but even for the conflict to sustain itself. It is interesting how our individual choices are political in nature and vice versa as individuals and communities are an elementary unit of the state. Even in the case of the Houthi group in Yemen, their cause to be free and other demands only matter the individual and the community exist. I think to a great extent, an orientation to the feminist conception of viewing issues from a gendered and individual lens has expanded the realm of security. Leaving a lot to be unpacked, as we realize the importance of different issues. While there have been debates whether food security is an important urgent issue that ought to be securitized, the feminist conception of violence helps expand the realm of security.
Violence does not just occur in a state of war or does not have to be physically perpetrated. In the case of Yemen, it ranges from the civil war to relentless bombing by the Saudi-led coalition to structural factors such as rising inflation and poverty that cause food insecurity. For instance, the blockade of aids by the Saudi-led coalition is a kind of violence inflicted on the Yemenis population. The interest of the Houthi rebels to keep the international aid for their community too is violence as it restricts access to basic amenities for other communities. So far, the question of gender has not been mentioned, but this dimension only builds on these complexities of food security. Food insecurity affects all, but it affects a certain section of society disproportionately. Women and infants suffer due to malnutrition for various reasons ranging from pregnancies to their role as mothers who are the last ones to eat, making sure their families get enough. The World Food Programme (WFP) has a grounded report providing names and faces to the food insecurity stories in Yemen, moving away from the binaries of numerics and statistics. These personal stories paint a larger picture, hinting that the 'personal' is international. It also points to how individuals form a collective, making it an important international security concern.
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| Zainab and her months-old daughter suffer from malnutrition. Source: WFP |
The dominance of certain perspectives in understanding the realm of international security has been evident in several news analyses in mainstream media and most importantly academia. According to Cynthia Enloe, the dominance of state centrism and militarisation of issues still prevails. We can focus on the military and state actors involved in the Yemenis crisis, but we would ignore the cultural complexities of the conflict that stems from the relativity of security for different actors. Ken Booth offers an interesting framework from which we can conceptualize the issue of war as a cultural phenomenon. The moment we do this, the Yemenis crisis is not just an interstate conflict topped with a fallen regime, but a conflict between two Islamic identities of Shias (Houthis with Iranian backing) and Sunnis (Saudi Arab). This aspect of the conflict shifts our understanding of the issue from mere bombs being dropped and a collapse of a state. The multiplicity of actors involved in this conflict too, provide an instance of how the dominance of certain western narratives and frameworks can view this crisis. The involvement of the United States and the United Kingdom in the Saudi-led coalition gives a hint about the values and security concerns at stake. For the US, there are two aspects; one, the possibility of an Islamic extremist group that threatens it. Two, the importance of spreading liberal democratic values. Now to perceive western forces threatened by the conflicts in Islamic regions is dominant not just in the case of Yemen but other Middle Eastern conflicts as well. Also, the aspect of conceptualizing the west as more rational, humane, and liberal does not quite sit well when it is evident that the cut in funds for the food projects and aid in Yemen exists primarily because of the west's complicity despite being rich nations with thriving economies.
In the discussion so far, I think it is important to amplify that a state-centric and militarized perspective is important to understand international security and will continue to be. The aspect of moving away from them and focusing on more individual community-based analysis only provides layers of complex issues to conceptualize the security issue at hand. The feminist perspective and food insecurity in Yemen, the gendered lens has only facilitated a microanalysis of a larger issue. Since I did emphasize an individual-based framework, looking at food security from an emancipatory view would be interesting too. The inability to access food clearly hinders individuals to realize their potential and be free making it a form of violence. And I think as I get oriented towards the different approaches, I find myself looking at issues from different perspectives. In fact, my interest in the concept of food insecurity in a conflict zone stems from my interest in armed conflicts and the role of states and other international actors in some ways. I think my understanding of self and identity does reflect the way I tend to conceptualize issues, specifically issues as basic as food. The current international climate provides an opportunity to look at different security issues ranging from the Covid -19 pandemic to the Ukraine crisis that is underway. Therefore, going back to Ken Booth's observation that the changing conceptualization of self does impact how one theorizes an issue and not just the international climate.
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