International political sociology (IPS) is an interdisciplinary field and set of approaches at the crossroads of
international relations theory
International relations theory is the study of international relations (IR) from a theoretical perspective. It seeks to explain behaviors and outcomes in international politics. The three most prominent School of thought, schools of thought are ...
and other disciplines such as
sociology
Sociology is the scientific study of human society that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of Interpersonal ties, social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. The term sociol ...
,
geography
Geography (from Ancient Greek ; combining 'Earth' and 'write', literally 'Earth writing') is the study of the lands, features, inhabitants, and phenomena of Earth. Geography is an all-encompassing discipline that seeks an understanding o ...
and
anthropology
Anthropology is the scientific study of humanity, concerned with human behavior, human biology, cultures, society, societies, and linguistics, in both the present and past, including archaic humans. Social anthropology studies patterns of behav ...
. It is structured around initiatives such as the journal ''
International Political Sociology International political sociology (IPS) is an interdisciplinary field and set of approaches at the crossroads of international relations theory and other disciplines such as sociology, geography and anthropology. It is structured around initiatives ...
'' and the network Doingips, as well as scholars such as
Didier Bigo
Didier Bigo (born 31 August 1956) is a French academic from Lille and Professor of International Relations at King's College London and at Sciences Po, Paris. He has authored two books, ''Polices en réseaux. L'expérience européenne'' (1996) and ...
, Anastassia Tsoukala, Ayse Ceyhan or Elspeth Guild.
Security studies
The IPS approach to
security studies
__NOTOC__
Security studies, also known as international security studies, is an academic sub-field within the wider discipline of international relations that studies organized violence, military conflict, national security, and international s ...
is often also referred to as Paris School of security studies within the discipline, and is closely associated with the journal ''
Cultures et Conflits
''Cultures et Conflits'' is an international relations journal associated with the Paris School of security studies. It is a quarterly international relations journal that addresses various issues, including topics of war, conflict, migrati ...
''. According to
Didier Bigo
Didier Bigo (born 31 August 1956) is a French academic from Lille and Professor of International Relations at King's College London and at Sciences Po, Paris. He has authored two books, ''Polices en réseaux. L'expérience européenne'' (1996) and ...
an IPS approach to security argues that both security and insecurity are the result of an (in)securitization process based on a speech act calling for a politics of exception and a general frame linked to the existence of transnational bureaucracies and private agents managing insecurity that compete to frame security issues. Bigo further argues that this (in)securitization process is embedded in the use of technology in every day practices. IPS approaches to security criticize of the characterization of security studies as a sub-discipline of
international relations
International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...
and the association of security with survival. IPS challenges the Copenhagen School's understanding of the securitization process arguing that securitization is not the result of a successful speech act but mundane bureaucratic decisions, use of technologies and Weberian routines of rationalization. The International Political Sociology approach to security is particularly influenced by a
Foucaultian reading of policing as a form of governmentality, as well as insights from the work of
Pierre Bourdieu
Pierre Bourdieu (, ; ; ; 1 August 1930 – 23 January 2002) was a French sociologist and public intellectual. Bourdieu's contributions to the sociology of education, the theory of sociology, and sociology of aesthetics have achieved wide influ ...
.
The "sociology of security" is the scientific study of the relationships between community and security. It addresses the questions what understanding of security does society create and conversely, what society does security establish. In other words, sociology of security is the study of mutual interactions between security and the society that result in developing or production and reproduction of security in the society.
See also
*
Critical security studies
Critical security studies (CSS) is an academic discipline within security studies which draws on critical theory to revise and, at times, reject the narrow focus of mainstream approaches to security. Similarly to the case of critical internation ...
References
External links
Doingips website
{{Security Studies
Security studies
Paris School (security)
International relations theory
Methods in sociology