The militarization of security. A systems theory perspective

ABSTRACT

This conceptual article develops a theoretical argument for how the militarization of security can be understood from a systems theory perspective, which allows a conceptual link between the two main perspectives on militarization within securitization studies to be made. Whereas in securitization studies the so called Copenhagen School and the more sociological approach of the Paris School are generally seen as two analytical lenses on securitization and militarization, I suggest reconceptualizing them as two perspectives on empirically distinct processes of militarization. These processes occur in two different types of social systems, namely the political system on the one hand and security organizations on the other. This helps to distinguish between political and non-political forms of militarization. Although the article is concentrated on developing a theoretical perspective on the complexities of political and non-political militarization of security, it aims to encourage further exploration of how those forms of militarization are empirically interlinked.

KEYWORDS:

• securitization
• militarization
• security
• systems theory

Acknowledgement

The research for this paper was funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) as part of the Collaborative Research Center ‘Dynamics of Security’ (SFB 138) at the Universities of Marburg and Gießen. I would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their insightful comments and suggestions, and Jutta Joachim and Andrea Schneiker for initiating this contribution.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft [INST 162/521].