Journal of Human Security | 2014 | Volume 10 | Issue 1 | Pages 12–13

DOI: 10.12924/johs2014.10010012

ISSN: 1835-3800

Book Review

Human Security in World Affairs: A Pedagogical, Multi-

disciplinary Approach

Published: 2 April 2014

Keywords: human security; individual and group responsibility; multi-disciplinary approach; pedagogical

Human Security in World Affairs: Problems

and Opportunities

Alexander K. Lautensach, Sabina W. Lautensach

(eds.)

Caesarpress: 2013

504 pp.; ISBN: 978-3-902890-00-9

The end of the Cold War and the ever increasing

interconnectivity in our globalised world have resulted

in much debate in academia, in politics, and else-

where about the progress of human security. The

debate is no longer limited to the fundamentals of

human biological and physiological needs such as air,

food and shelter, or to basic safety issues such as

protection, security, law and order, and stability. Over

the last decade, proponents of the human security

thesis have aimed for an even wider conceptualisation

of what this term is supposed to mean. The idea of

human security is now seen to relate not just to

individuals, groups or states but to entire regions, and

even globally. It refers not only to the human condition

of individual or group responsibility, but to the all-

encompassing social and political environment that

make it possible for humanity to survive and to have a

life at least mostly free from want and fear.

Alexander and Sabina Lautensach (editors) write

that their book is primarily intended for students and

for teaching, and that a pedagogical approach was

prioritised rather than a reproduction in the standard

format of an academic monograph (p. XVII). Through-

out, they aim for a diverse, multi-/trans-disciplinary

approach in term of content and presentation from

contributors, with potential student outcomes focused

on flexibility and a broad spectrum knowledge and

understanding of human security. To these ends they

have been very successful. This hefty tome, almost

encyclopaedic in its scope and depth, needs to be

approached by students in a certain way. That is,

students will benefit from some directed guidance

regarding approach and methodology in order to suc-

cessfully navigate through the many detailed concepts,

theories and practicalities contained in the book. This is

clearly provided in the preface where the editors spend

quite some time outlining the rationale of the book in a

simple and easy to understand way that will be partic-

ularly useful for students and other engaged readers.

The Synopsis and list of Learning Outcomes & Big Ideas

at the beginning of each chapter, as well as the

Summary Points and Extra Activities & Further Research

at the end are further useful tools to consolidate learning

and direct the student to other associated research.

The book has two broadly overlapping sections.

The first part of these, Chapters 1 to 13, presents, an-

alyses and discusses problems and challenges, while

the second part, Chapters 14 to 19, is more focused

on possible solutions. The overlap is less so in the

former and more so in the latter. A distinction in ap-

proaches between the two sections is not immediately

obvious but it is there, and the book has a logical

progression from general to more specific throughout.

The book begins with a comprehensive Intro-

duction by the editors that could almost have been a

separate chapter presented with all the others. The

introduction provides a useful context for the discussion

under a Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).

of human security, but some of this could have been

incorporated into Chapter 2, "Why Human Security

Needs our Attention", which is co-authored by one of

the editors. This would leave room in the introduction

for a useful and more detailed description of what the

long list of chapters in the book are about. The

chapter descriptions in the introduction are sometimes

just one or two line statements, for example, "The

complex challenges of international development aid are

discussed in Chapter 13" (p. XXXIV) and "Chapter 17

addresses the reduction of armed conflict, and in

Chapter 18 strategies for peace building are discussed"

(p. XXXV). Each chapter in the content area does have

a solid synopsis and introduction, but it would be useful

for readers to have a condensed version of what each

chapter—or perhaps couple of chapters—contains.

A particular challenge for proponents of the human

security ethos is to focus analysis and argument in

such a way that does not overly dilute its central

thesis. There is a danger of the discourse ending up

with human security being related to everything,

everywhere, all the time and about anything even

remotely associated with the human condition and

experience. The book does tackle a very broad range

of human security related issues, from religion, war,

terrorism, various political orders, and globalization

through to environmental decay, resource scarcity, a

'war against nature', governance at local, regional and

global levels, social constructivism, health…the list

goes on. The editors frequently remind the reader

early in the book that their approach and the author's

contributions are wide-ranging and deliberately multi-/

trans-disciplinary, something which they certainly

achieved. Throughout the book, the editors have

managed to very successfully bring together this large

collection of disparate approaches to the subject of

human security in a meaningful way.

Chapters 1 to 4 help to contextualise the notion of

human security. Chapter 1, "Human Security Foun-

dation Documents and Related Sources" would

perhaps be better placed after Chapter 2, "Why Human

Security Needs our Attention". For readers to be

convinced that human security is important they need

to know why it is important in the first place. The

importance of human security is concisely and compre-

hensively articulated in Chapter 2. Chapter 4, "Threats

to Human Security—An Overview" is the stand-out

chapter in this part of the book, providing a succinct

outline of human security. Chapters 5 through to

Chapter 13 then provide the reader with a broad

swathe of useful topics such as security challenges

facing individuals and groups within states; human

security and international law; environment and access

to resources concerns; transnational crime; governance

and ideological imperatives. Most of the chapters

integrate very well with the central theme of the book,

although Chapter 8 "Globalization Processes" would

benefit from some clearer linkage to the core human

security thesis.

Chapters 14 through to Chapter 20 present further

challenges to human security and incorporate many

interesting approaches, outcomes and possible so-

lutions to the topics presented. This is where the book

stamps its authority in human security analysis and

argument, and it is what the engaged reader will find

the most interesting and enjoyable to read. This is not

to say that the earlier part of the book is lacking in

some way, but the second half has a more directed

attention to a bottom-line approach regarding options

and possible solutions.

The greatest strength of the book is in its extensive

critical analysis and discussion in each of the chapters.

The book is very ambitious in its scope and depth as it

focuses on a wide range of theoretical, empirical and

practical challenges that the human security paradigm

poses. While there could be some minor rearrange-

ment of a couple of the early chapters and a little

more directed chapter information in the introduction,

these observations do not detract from the very de-

tailed and useful content of the book as a whole. This

is currently the best generalist text book on the

market regarding human security. The scope, breath

and depth of the topics covered in the book, and the

way that the editors have managed the hugely difficult

task of organising the chapters into a coherent and

meaningful manner, make this an outstanding text

book for university undergraduates and post-graduate

learners. While the editors say that this is the reading

audience the book is aimed at, I consider that the book

will also have a strong appeal for a much wider

readership outside academia.

John Janzekovic

Lectures in Politics, International Relations,

International Justice and Human rights, University of

the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, Queensland,

Australia; E-Mail: [email protected]