- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- New to this Edition
- Notes on Contributors
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Boxes
- How to use this Book
- Online Resources
- 1. Introduction: What is Security Studies?
- Part 1 Approaches to Security
- 2. Realism
- 3. Liberalism and Liberal Internationalism
- 4. Historical Materialism
- 5. Peace Studies
- 6. Social Constructivism
- 7. Critical Security Studies: A Schismatic History
- 8. Poststructural Insights: Making Subjects and Objects of Security
- 9. Postcolonialism
- 10. Human Security
- 11. Gender and Security
- 12. Securitization
- Part 2 Deepening and Broadening Security
- 13. Military Security
- 14. Regime Security
- 15. Societal Security
- 16. Environmental Security
- 17. Economic Security
- 18. Globalization, Development, and Security
- Part 3 Traditional and Non-Traditional Security
- 19. Coercive Diplomacy: Countering War-Threatening Crises and Armed Conflicts
- 20. Weapons of Mass Destruction
- 21. Terrorism
- 22. Humanitarian Intervention
- 23. Energy Security
- 24. The Weapons Trade
- 25. Health and Security
- 26. Transnational Crime
- 27. Cyber-Security
- 28. After the Return to Theory: The Past, Present, and Future of Security Studies
- Glossary
- References
- Index
(p. 47) 4. Historical Materialism
- Chapter:
- (p. 47) 4. Historical Materialism
- Author(s):
Eric Herring
- DOI:
- 10.1093/hepl/9780198804109.003.0004
This chapter examines historical materialism and its approach to understanding what constitutes security. It begins with an overview of of the social scientific, philosophical, and political dimensions of historical materialism and what it involves, including its diversity, value, and potential but avoidable pitfalls. It then describes key concepts of historical materialism and uses them to show how capitalism generally and in its recent neoliberal form aim to generate insecurity for labour and security for capital. It also discusses the relationships between historical materialism and approaches to security in a wider context (realism, liberalism, social constructivism, and gender) and to various perspectives on security (securitization and the sectoral approach, peace studies, Critical Security Studies, and human security). The chapter concludes with an overall assessment of the contribution of historical materialism to the scholarship and politics of security and insecurity.
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- Preface
- Acknowledgements
- New to this Edition
- Notes on Contributors
- List of Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Boxes
- How to use this Book
- Online Resources
- 1. Introduction: What is Security Studies?
- Part 1 Approaches to Security
- 2. Realism
- 3. Liberalism and Liberal Internationalism
- 4. Historical Materialism
- 5. Peace Studies
- 6. Social Constructivism
- 7. Critical Security Studies: A Schismatic History
- 8. Poststructural Insights: Making Subjects and Objects of Security
- 9. Postcolonialism
- 10. Human Security
- 11. Gender and Security
- 12. Securitization
- Part 2 Deepening and Broadening Security
- 13. Military Security
- 14. Regime Security
- 15. Societal Security
- 16. Environmental Security
- 17. Economic Security
- 18. Globalization, Development, and Security
- Part 3 Traditional and Non-Traditional Security
- 19. Coercive Diplomacy: Countering War-Threatening Crises and Armed Conflicts
- 20. Weapons of Mass Destruction
- 21. Terrorism
- 22. Humanitarian Intervention
- 23. Energy Security
- 24. The Weapons Trade
- 25. Health and Security
- 26. Transnational Crime
- 27. Cyber-Security
- 28. After the Return to Theory: The Past, Present, and Future of Security Studies
- Glossary
- References
- Index
