Human security: practical possibilities

Kaldor, Mary (2020) Human security: practical possibilities. LSE Public Policy Review, 1 (2). ISSN 2633-4046

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Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has exposed a turbulent world of inequality, failing states, crime, violence, racism and authoritarianism. But it has also opened up the practical possibilities of human security – the notion that governments and international institutions take responsibility for the wellbeing of individuals and the communities in which they live, protecting them from global ills such as Covid-19 and ensuring both material security (safety from poverty and deprivation) and physical security (safety from violence and crime). My focus on this essay is on physical security, and, in particular, how to address the problems that contemporary war inflicts upon individuals and communities. Of course, physical and material security are intimately connected. Poverty, inequality, and deprivation are undoubtedly a cause of violence and crime and, by the same token, violence accentuates precarity. But while solving the problems of material redistribution could well reduce the incentives for violence, this is extremely difficult to achieve in violent contexts where the warring parties control the flow of resources. Thus, finding ways to mitigate violence is often a precondition for material security. In this essay, I outline an understanding of human security as a tool for reducing violent conflict.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://ppr.lse.ac.uk/
Additional Information:	© 2020 CC-BY The Author
Divisions:	International Development
Subjects:	J Political Science > JZ International relations H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform
Date Deposited:	22 Jan 2021 14:15
Last Modified:	15 Sep 2023 16:42
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/108530

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