ABSTRACT
In this chapter, students will learn about the concept and theory of ‘securitization’ and the major debates it has stimulated. Securitization refers to a process whereby issues are presented as security threats and, if relevant audiences accept these representations, emergency measures are enabled to deal with them. An increasingly prominent approach to the study of security in international relations, it promises a move away from developing an abstract definition of security, instead suggesting the need to explore the process through which security is given meaning in political practice. The chapter begins by summarizing the evolution of securitization theory after the Cold War and introduces the central contributions of the approach, before drawing out the key debates within and about securitization.
