Deadline: 30.05.2008.

The theme is 'Bringing class into security studies'. It might alternatively be titled 'Why is there no historical materialist security studies?' or 'Why critical security studies needs Marxism' or 'class as a referent in security studies'

This is a call for roundtables, panels and individual papers (which I will try to place on panels) for the next International Studies Association annual convention in New York city, 15-18 February 2009. See http://www.isanet.org/newyork2009/

The theme is 'Bringing class into security studies'. It might alternatively be titled 'Why is there no historical materialist security studies?' or 'Why critical security studies needs Marxism' or 'class as a referent in security studies'. My intention it to produce a journal special issue or forum from the papers/roundtable presentations. The proposed theme would fit well with the ISA official convention theme of 'Exploring the past, anticipating the future'. If you are not planning to attend ISA, I would still be interested in paper proposals for the journal special issue. I have not yet decided which journal to approach: that will depend in part on the lineup of papers that starts to emerge.

In the development of critical security studies thus far, historical materialist (Marxist and neo-Marxist as opposed to post-Marxist) elements have been present to a minimal degree. The lack of interest in historical materialism is a major weakness and imbalance within critical security studies as it has developed thus far. There has been an overwhelming emphasis on the ideational, discourse analysis,  constructivism and post-structuralism, and this is a crucial limitation on its ability to theorise world politics in a systematic and politically relevant way. Meanwhile, scholars working with historical materialist perspectives are generating far-reaching and influential analyses which locate the discursive within the context of hierarchically structured relations at multiple levels globally. Such analyses have been central to the enormously successful development of critical geography, critical sociology and critical education studies, all politically engaged fields intertwined with actually existing current social movements. As Ken Booth, in defining it as being within the scope of critical security studies, states: 'The Marxian tradition offers a deep mine of ideas that are especially useful for thinking about ideology, class, and structural power'. As Booth also states 'class ... is a much-ignored referent, despite massive life-threatening and life-determining insecurity being the direct result of poverty'. Historical materialism, including its Gramscian and historical sociology variants, is flourishing within IR and is a major resource for critical security studies. Yet those who 'do' historical materialist  analysis generally do not 'do' security studies, perhaps for political reasons in that they see it overwhelmingly as a field which serves mainly as an instrument of class domination and for intellectual reasons in that the concept of security is seen as a relatively unsatisfying one for theorising about world politics. The problem with this approach is that students new to security studies will  effectively, even if unintentionally and despite Booth's assertion to the contrary, be guided to the conclusion that they have little to learn from historical materialism and do not need to think about class and capitalism (including neoliberalism). Path dependency - roads more and less travelled - will operate in a powerful way.

The deadline for submission of proposals to the ISA is 30 May 2008, and the more time I have to coordinate the better.

Only two paper presentations per person will be accepted by the ISA. This two presentation rule applies also applies roundtables, although it does not include participation as discussants or chairs. This rule applies to all participants, irrespective of their geographical origin. Co-authorship of a paper counts as a half-participation.

Eric

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Dr. Eric Herring
Convenor,
Network of Activist Scholars of Politics and International Relations      http://www.naspir.net

Department of Politics, University of Bristol,
10 Priory Road, Bristol, BS8 1TU, United Kingdom.
Tel. +44(0)117 9288582. Mobile +44(0)7771 966608.
eric.herring@bristol.ac.uk
http://www.bris.ac.uk/politics