Barry Buzan

Last updated

Barry Buzan
Barry Buzan 2019 on panel.png
Buzan in 2019 on a panel at the University of London
Personal details
Born
Barry Gordon Buzan

(1946-04-28) 28 April 1946 (age 77)
NationalityBritish
SpouseDeborah Skinner
Relatives B. F. Skinner (father-in-law)
Residence(s) London, England

Barry Gordon Buzan, FBA, FAcSS (born 28 April 1946) is a British political scientist. He is an Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the London School of Economics and a honorary professor at the University of Copenhagen and Jilin University. Until 2012 he was Montague Burton Professor of International Relations at the LSE. Buzan sketched the Regional Security Complex Theory and is therefore together with Ole Wæver a central figure of the Copenhagen School.

Contents

Career

From 1988 to 2002 he was Project Director at the Copenhagen Peace Research Institute (COPRI). From 1995 to 2002 he was research Professor of International Studies at the University of Westminster, and before that Professor of International Studies at the University of Warwick. During 1993 he was visiting professor at the International University of Japan, and in 1997–8 he was Olof Palme Visiting Professor in Sweden.

He was Chairman of the British International Studies Association 1988–90, Vice-President of the (North American) International Studies Association 1993–4, and founding Secretary of the International Studies Coordinating Committee 1994–8. From 1999 to 2011 he was the general coordinator of a project to reconvene the English school of international relations theory, and from 2004 to 2008 he was editor of the European Journal of International Relations . In 1998 he was elected a fellow of the British Academy, and in 2001 he was elected to the Academy of Learned Societies for the Social Sciences.

Research interests

Buzan defines his interests as:

  1. the conceptual and regional aspects of international security;
  2. international history, and the evolution of the international system since prehistory;
  3. international relations theory, particularly structural realism;
  4. international society, and the 'English School' approach to International Relations.

Buzan was a major contributor to the Copenhagen School of political thought, being the first to the various forms of securitization by the state. Buzan connected this concept to regional security complex theory. [1]

Personal life

Buzan was born in London, but his family emigrated to Canada in 1954. He holds the citizenships of the United Kingdom and Canada, Buzan is a graduate of the University of British Columbia (1968) where he started an uncompleted master programme. He received his doctorate at the London School of Economics (1973). He describes his political views as social democratic and his religious views as extreme secularist . [2]

Buzan's wife, Deborah Skinner, is an artist and youngest daughter of psychologist B. F. Skinner. [3] [4] They have no children. His brother was author Tony Buzan, with whom he co-authored The Mind Map Book. [5]

Works

Buzan's 1983 text People, States and Fear had a significant impact on criticism of the prevailing state-centric views of the international system. [6] Buzan contended that understandings of national security should be broadened to address systemic concerns involving individuals, states, and the entire international system. [6] In this view, economic, social, and environmental factors of security should be considered in addition to political and military aspects of security. [6]

Other works by Buzan include:

Awards

Buzan won the American Society of International Law's 1982 Francis Deak Prize for his article Navigating by Consensus: Developments in the Technique at the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kenneth Waltz</span> American political scientist (1924–2013)

Kenneth Neal Waltz was an American political scientist who was a member of the faculty at both the University of California, Berkeley and Columbia University and one of the most prominent scholars in the field of international relations. He was a veteran of both World War II and the Korean War.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International security</span> Measures taken by states and international organizations to ensure mutual safety and survival

International security is a term which refers to the measures taken by states and international organizations, such as the United Nations, European Union, and others, to ensure mutual survival and safety. These measures include military action and diplomatic agreements such as treaties and conventions. International and national security are invariably linked. International security is national security or state security in the global arena.

<i>The Globalization of World Politics</i>

The Globalization of World Politics: An Introduction to International Relations is an introduction to international relations (IR) and offers comprehensive coverage of key theories and global issues.Edited by John Baylis, Patricia Owens, and Steve Smith. It has eight editions, first published in 1997, in this book leading scholars in the field introduce readers to the history, theory, structures, and key issues in IR, providing students with an ideal introduction and a constant guide throughout their studies.

Ole Wæver is a professor of international relations at the Department of Political Science, University of Copenhagen. He has published and broadcast extensively in the field of international relations, and is one of the main architects of the so-called Copenhagen School in International Relations.

Securitization in international relations and national politics is the process of state actors transforming subjects from regular political issues into matters of "security": thus enabling extraordinary means to be used in the name of security. Issues that become securitized do not necessarily represent issues that are essential to the objective survival of a state, but rather represent issues where someone was successful in constructing an issue into an existential problem.

The English School of international relations theory maintains that there is a 'society of states' at the international level, despite the condition of anarchy. The English school stands for the conviction that ideas, rather than simply material capabilities, shape the conduct of international politics, and therefore deserve analysis and critique. In this sense it is similar to constructivism, though the English School has its roots more in world history, international law and political theory, and is more open to normative approaches than is generally the case with constructivism.

The Copenhagen School is a term given to "schools" of theory originating in Copenhagen, Denmark. In at least four different scientific disciplines a theoretical approach originating in Copenhagen has been so influential that they have been dubbed "the Copenhagen School"

The Copenhagen School of security studies is a school of academic thought with its origins in international relations theorist Barry Buzan's book People, States and Fear: The National Security Problem in International Relations, first published in 1983. The Copenhagen School places particular emphasis on the non-military aspects of security, representing a shift away from traditional security studies. Theorists associated with the school include Buzan, Ole Wæver, and Jaap de Wilde. Many of the school's members worked at the Copenhagen Peace Research Institute, from which its name originates.

The Copenhagen Peace Research Institute (COPRI) was a Danish research institute established in 1985 by the Danish Parliament. Its aim was to support and strengthen multidisciplinary research on peace and security. Established as an independent institute, in 1996 it became a government research institute under the Ministry of Research and Information Technology. In January 2003, COPRI was merged into the Danish Institute for International Studies.

Thomas Diez is a German professor of Political Science and International Relations at the Institute for Political Science, University of Tübingen. He was formerly Professor of International Relations Theory in the Department of Political Science and International Studies at the University of Birmingham, where he was Head of department from 2005 to 2008. Diez earned his PhD at the University of Mannheim. He was formerly a Research Fellow at the Copenhagen Peace Research Institute where he worked with Barry Buzan and Ole Waever. He studies international relations theory, European integration and conflict transformation and is best known for his contributions to the debate on the European Union's normative power. Books he has edited or co-edited include The EU and the Cyprus Conflict: Modern Conflict, Postmodern Union, European Integration Theory and The European Union and Border Conflicts, Cyprus: A Conflict at the Crossroads and An Introduction to International Relations Theory: Perspectives and Themes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Benoy Kumar Sarkar</span> Indian academic

Benoy Kumar Sarkar (1887–1949) was an Indian social scientist, professor, and nationalist. He founded several institutes in Calcutta, including the Bengali Institute of Sociology, Bengali Asia Academy, Bengali Dante Society, and Bengali Institute of American Culture.

Jacobus Hubertus "Jaap" de Wilde is a Dutch academic. A native of Zuidlaren, he is a Professor of International Relations and Security Studies at the University of Groningen since 2007. He headed the department of International Relations between 2008 and 2012. From 2001 to 2007 he was professor in European Security Studies at the Department of Political Sciences, VU University Amsterdam, and from 1995–2007 he was senior research fellow in European Studies and IR Theory at the Centre for European Studies (CES), University of Twente. From 1993–1995 he worked at the Copenhagen Peace Research Institute (COPRI).

<i>Security Dialogue</i> Academic journal

Security Dialogue is a peer-reviewed academic journal that publishes scholarly articles which combine contemporary theoretical analysis with challenges to public policy across a wide-ranging field of security studies. The journal is owned by the Peace Research Institute Oslo which also hosts the editorial office. As of 1 October 2015 Mark B. Salter is the editor-in-chief. Marit Moe-Pryce has been the managing editor of the journal since 2004. Current associate editors are Emily Gilbert, Jairus V. Grove, Jana Hönke, Doerthe Rosenow, Anna Stavrianakis, and Maria Stern.

<i>Security: A New Framework for Analysis</i>

Security: A New Framework for Analysis is a book by Barry Buzan, Ole Wæver and Jaap de Wilde. It is considered to be the leading text outlining the views of the Copenhagen School of security studies. The work addresses two important conceptual developments: Buzan's notion of sectoral analysis and Ole Wæver's concept of 'securitization'. The book argues for an intersubjective understanding of security and that our understanding of security should be widened to include issues such as environmental security and threats to identity.

Identity, Migration and the New Security Agenda in Europe is a 1993 book by Ole Wæver, Barry Buzan, Morten Kelstrup and Pierre Lemaitre. The work is significant to the Copenhagen School of security studies as an early collaboration between Ole Waever and Barry Buzan and for weakening the state-centrism of early securitization theory.

Societal security is a concept developed by the Copenhagen School of security studies that focuses on the ability of a society to persist in its essential character. It was developed in 1990s in the context of the end of the Cold War and moves towards further integration in the European Union. This paradigm de-emphasizes the role of state power in guaranteeing security by confronting threats, highlighting instead questions of community identity and social dynamics.

The European Security Order Recast: Scenarios for the Post-Cold War Era was a 1990 international relations book by Barry Buzan, Morten Kelstrup, Pierre Lemaitre, Elzbieta Tromer and Ole Waever. The book focused on structural transformations in European security at the end of the Cold War and argues that concerns about traditional military security would decrease and that the issue of societal security would become more important in the future. The work is considered to be belong to the Copenhagen School of security studies.

Regional security complex theory (RSCT) is a theory of international relations developed by Barry Buzan and Ole Wæver and advanced in their 2003 work Regions and Powers: The Structure of International Security. Buzan and Wæver are perhaps best known as the key figures behind the influential Copenhagen School of security studies, in which the main principle is examining security as a social construct (see also securitization and constructivism).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amitav Acharya</span> Indian-born Canadian scholar and author (born 1962)

Amitav Acharya is a scholar and author, who is Distinguished Professor of International Relations at American University, Washington, D.C., where he holds the UNESCO Chair in Transnational Challenges and Governance at the School of International Service, and serves as the chair of the ASEAN Studies Initiative. Acharya has expertise in and has made contributions to a wide range of topics in International Relations, including constructivism, ASEAN and Asian regionalism, and Global International Relations. He became the first non-Western President of the International Studies Association when he was elected to the post for 2014–15.

Richard K. Ashley is a postmodernist scholar of International relations. He is an associate professor at the Arizona State University's School of Politics and Global Studies.

References

  1. Tüysüzoğlu, Göktürk (July 2014). "How Demand for Security Influence the Shaping of Foreign Policy: Using the Theory of Securitisation to Understand Armenia–Iran Relations". Journal of Eurasian Studies . 5 (2): 192–201. doi: 10.1016/j.euras.2014.05.008 . S2CID   153425855.
  2. Barry Buzan on Facebook
  3. Skinner, Deborah. "About". Horses by Skinner. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  4. Buzan, Deborah Skinner (12 March 2004). "I was not a lab rat". The Guardian . Retrieved 4 September 2014.
  5. "Press yRelease: Internationally renowned best-selling author of mind- and memory- improvement books, Inventor of Mind Map". BBC Press Office. 4 March 2003.
  6. 1 2 3 Meng, Wenting (2024). Developmental Peace: Theorizing China's Approach to International Peacebuilding. Ibidem. Columbia University Press. p. 14. ISBN   9783838219073.
  7. "The Francis Deak Prize". The American Journal of International Law. 76 (3): 610. 1982. doi:10.1017/S0002930000212359. ISSN   0002-9300. JSTOR   2200792. S2CID   246004031.