THEMENSCHWERPUNKT | Goetschel, The Need for a Contextualized and Trans-disciplinary 26 | S+F (23. Jg.) 1/2005 The Need for a Contextualized and Trans-disciplinary Approach to Human Security Laurent Goetschel* Abstract: Up until now, the most interesting attribute of human security which consists of the combination of a narrow focus concerning security issues, being individuals and groups, with a broad perspective of security threats, has failed to be exploited to its full potential. In this article, the author argues that this is predominantly due to the lack of a suitable ap- proach and methodology which is able to incorporate the variety of existing human security constellations. Within a syn- drome-based approach, human security should allow for a specific »clustering« of core problems based on a security perspec- tive. This should provide new insights, in particular on the »variable« or context-specific part of human security and have important implications for comprehensive and coherent policy intervention strategies. Keywords: Kontextualisierung, menschliche Bedürfnisse, menschliche Sicherheit, Friedenskonsolidierung, Syndrome Mitigation. uman security provides a direct link between the concept of security and human beings. In this sense, it is comparable to other concepts such as human rights or human health. However, the subject mat- ter of human security is far less clear than that of human rights or human health: At its core, human rights relies on a broad consensus and forms part of codified and customary international law. The notion of health has a scientific ba- sis and forms the uncontested objective of a whole branch of science. Compared to both of these concepts, human se- curity, though its label implies universal aspirations, is a very ill defined concept. Numerous discussions have led to a variety of definitions of which some are broad, incorporat- ing and also including freedom from want, and others are narrow and limited to the effects of violent conflicts. How- ever, until now the most interesting attribute of the concept of human security as detailed above, has failed to be util- ised to its full potential. As previously mentioned, this arti- cle represents an attempt by the author to justify his belief that this is essentially due to the lack of a suitable approach and methodology to incorporate the variety of existing hu- man security constellations. The argument will be devel- oped in four steps, looking at conceptual, policy, and re- search aspects of human security before making the case for a closer link between human security and regional contexts within the framework of an ongoing research programme on the mitigation of the syndromes of global change. 1 1. The Human Needs Approach The concept of human security relates the term of »security« to that of »humans«. Whereas in the past, the majority of * Dr. Laurent Goetschel is Professor in Politics at the EuropaInstitut, Uni- versity of Basel, and Director of swisspeace – Swiss Peace Foundation, Berne, Switzerland. This article was prepared with the support of the Swiss National Centre of Competence in Research North-South (NCCR North-South). An earlier draft was presented at the ACUNS seventh an- nual meeting in Geneva, 30 June – 2 July 2004. The author wishes to thank Albrecht Schnabel, Linda Shepard and the S+F editorial team for their most valuable comments. 1 Further information on this project is available online at http:// www.nccr-north-south.unibe.ch . security discourses were related to collective entities such as states or regions, human security puts the emphasis on in- dividuals: considering why and how their security is at stake and how these issues should be dealt with. In hu- man-security debates and policies, individuals are the »ref- erent« object. So, what do we understand by security? »Security« points to some degree of protection of very important values that have been previously acquired. A nation may be deemed to be se- cure to the extent to which it was not in danger of having to sacrifice its core values. While the notion of wealth is measured in terms of the amount of a nation’s material possessions, and power is measured in terms of its ability to control the actions of others, security, in an objective sense, measures the absence of threats to acquired values, in a subjective sense, it measures the absence of fear that such values will be attacked. 2 In analogy, human security describes a situation in which individuals feel safe from attacks on their core values. But what are those values? Who defines them? And are those values supposed to be universal? Or are they dependent on specific cultural and socio-economic situations? Within the realm of peace and conflict research, such reflections on core values can be linked to the concept of »human needs«. The human needs approach in regard to international rela- tions studies rests on the basic assumption that human needs are a key motivational force behind human behav- iour and social interaction. These needs could not possibly be subject to authoritative control. However, they should be subject to some form of government protection. The stabil- ity of social systems depends on these needs being satisfied. Social systems must be responsive to human needs if they are to maintain their legitimacy and survive intact in the long run. Social systems that fail to satisfy human needs will grow unstable and be forced to undergo some sort of change, leading to conflict and possibly violence. Human needs theorists suggest that the concept provides social sci- 2 Arnold Wolfers, Discord and Collaboration. 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