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An Anthropological Approach to Security

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An Anthropological Approach to Security Anthropology and Security Studies Fina Antón Hurtado & Giovanni Ercolani Foreword by Luis Álvarez Munárriz [ ] Colección: Cultura y Sociedad Colección: Cultura y Sociedad Universidad de Murcia Nottingham Trent University College of William and Mary (USA) 2013 1ª Edición, 2013 Reservados todos los derechos. De acuerdo con la legislación vigente, y bajo las sanciones en ella previstas, queda totalmente prohibida la reproducción y/o transmisión parcial o total de este libro, por procedimientos mecánicos o electrónicos, incluyendo fotocopia, grabación magnética, óptica o cualesquiera otros procedimientos que la técnica permita o pueda permitir en el futuro, sin la expresa autorización por escrito de los propietarios del copyright. © Universidad de Murcia, Servicio de Publicaciones, 2.013 © De los textos sus autores Director de la Colección: Luis Álvarez Munárriz Anthropology and Security Studies Colección Cultura y Sociedad 1. Coedición: Universidad de Murcia, Nottingham Trent University & College of William and Mary (USA). Diseño de Portada: Colectivo EZ. Victoria_Chezner & Manu_Díaz ISBN: 978-84-16038-00-8 Contents FOREWORD: ANTHROPOLOGICAL APPROACH TO SECURITY 5 Luis Álvarez Munárriz PRÓLOGO: ENFOQUE ANTROPOLÓGICO DE LA SEGURIDAD 15 Luis Álvarez Munárriz INTRODUCTION: ANTHROPOLOGY AND SECURITY STUDIES 25 Fina Antón Hurtado and Giovanni Ercolani 1. CONSIDERATIONS ON ANTHROPOLOGY AND CRITICAL SECURITY STUDIES IN A GLOBALIZED CONTEXT: THE NATO CIVIL-MILITARY COOPERATION (CIMIC) DOCTRINE AS AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL SPACE 55 Giovanni Ercolani 2. VISUAL ETHNOGRAPHIES, CONFLICT AND SECURITY 119 Chris Farrands 3. THE PSYCHOLOGY OF PEACEKEEPING: ONE DOMAIN WHERE POLITICAL REALISM AND CRITICAL SECURITY THEORY WILL MEET 153 Harvey Langholtz 4. “THE REVOLUTION CONTINUES WORLDWIDE!” EMANCIPATORY POLITICS IN AN AGE OF GLOBAL INSECURITY 169 Danielle Moretti-Langholtz 5. ANTHROPOLOGICAL METHODS IN COUNTER-TRAFFICKING ACTIVITIES: ANALYSIS OF CRIMINAL NETWORKS AND VICTIM- ORIENTED APPROACH 185 Desirée Pangerc 6. ANTHROPOLOGY AND CONFLICTS. TODAY’S WARS AND PEACE-KEEPING OPERATIONS: WHY AN ANTHROPOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE IS NEEDED 199 Marco Ramazzotti CONCLUSIONS. A NEW GRAMMAR FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS IN A NEW WORLD ORDER 227 Maurizio Boni THE CONTRIBUTORS 255 Foreword: Anthropological Approach to Security Foreword: Anthropological Approach to Security 1 Luis Álvarez Munárriz Professor of Social Anthropology University of Murcia (Spain) Security is a universal aspiration of human beings that is present in all times and in all cultures. This exhaustive contention can be understood and accepted if we reflect upon the meaning and the role it plays in life of any person. In essence, every human being wants to live in peace, in a sociologically and ecologically friendly environment, and avoid all the threats and risks that endanger him or her at any cost. Security is a state of wellbeing that enables one to exercise one’s freedom to develop the project of life that every human being seeks to put in practice. In our society, being defined as the risk society, security is regarded as the most precious goods. However, a considerable part of the population lives in greater insecurity due to the fear of losing the high degree of economic and social development, that is to say, the fear of having to change one’s lifestyle. The fall of New York’s Twin Towers on 9/ 11 is an example which can help us to understand the degree of importance which people place upon security. Why did this terrorist attack take place? Could it have been avoided? What went wrong? These questions are important to people and we must address them because no one could have imagined that such a disaster could occur in the most powerful and secure country on the planet. And it also helps us understand that there are many disciplines and theories about the nature and scope of security. It should not surprise us since it is an aspiration that affects all of the areas of human life. But this multidisciplinary treatment has transformed the concept of security into a 1 Prof. Fina Antón Hurtado and Dr. Giovanni Ercolani would like to thank Ms. Marina Miron (MA War & Contemporary Conflict) for the translation of this Foreword. 5 Luis Álvarez Munárriz polysemous and ambiguous term. This is precisely the reason why we need to establish what is meant by security. Thus, security is understood as the feeling that people have when they are able to live in peace and harmony with other members of the social group, to which they belong, and enjoy the goods offered by the inhabited territory. It is a state of wellbeing that advances the achievement of the life project every human being wants to execute in order to give a true meaning to her or his life. In a negative sense it can be described as the absence or exclusion of any contingency, threat or danger that could destroy that sense of calmness and tranquillity. To do this end it is necessary to avoid all those factors that may generate uncertainty, uneasiness, fear or pain in people's daily life. Anthropology is a knowledge that must inevitably address this topic insofar as it examines those issues related to people’s concerns and interests. Its contribution is important since it provides a vision of the human being that constitutes a solid basis for constructing a comprehensive security model. A robust and productive model consists of four key variables. Let us examine each one of them separately. 1. Individual dimension: human security Being a reference point for people human security is designed to prevent both violent and nonviolent threats, which they may suffer. From this perspective, the basic and fundamental objective of security is to ensure a life worthy of people. Thus, it can be described as protection of individuals from risks to their physical or psychological safety as well as the dignity and quality of life which all persons have the right lead. In fact, any person by the mere fact of being a person is an absolute value in itself. From this follows that individuals are those who should primarily be protected. If we ask ourselves what kind of properties are those that make us men and enable us to match with one another, the answer is clear: we are all individuals 6 Foreword: Anthropological Approach to Security and should be treated as such. The category of persons is a sphere in which the universal and the personal are merged together. Once born, a person finds herself in a social environment the culture of which shapes her ways of being, thinking and acting. But it is not the society that makes her become a person but rather the characteristic and the specific feeling of every human being. All human beings have fundamental rights being linked to their existence which cannot be relinquished and which no one can deprive them of. Therefore, we can assert, in accordance with this principle, that there is a number of rights that is positioned above the interests of the state. Subsequently, the state should adopt effective measures of protection in order to warrant those. There are many aspects involved in human security. We have already established that it encompasses of large number of domains such as peace, healthy and satisfactory diet, health and education, housing, retirement protection, freedom to choose one’s society model, respect for human rights, environmental protection, control of the biotechnological risk, non - proliferation of nuclear weapons, etc. In any case, it should be emphasized that, in my view, there are three basic and fundamental domains. We must concentrate all our efforts upon those domains for addressing the root causes of insecurity. First and foremost, it must be emphatically stated that lives of people are sacred. It is not necessary to appeal to religious principles in order to grasp that the purpose of life is life itself. By taking a person’s life (that is killing a person) one takes away the most precious thing she has, i.e. everything. Hence, the state must provide for effective protection measures against individual actions that may threaten or take the life of any person inhibiting its territory. Similarly, the state should avoid unjust an d sometimes illegal actions, which its security forces might commit in a foreign territory resulting in deaths of many people, at all costs. The right to personal integrity is closely related to this “primary” value. This right deals with acts of violence or crime committed by individuals who might endanger not only life but also, and above all, bodily integrity of a person. 7 Luis Álvarez Munárriz In this domain we must not only reject but also ensure the elimination of both production and use of antipersonnel landmines, which struggles against human trafficking, organ trading, kidnapping, slave or forced labour, etc. We must be aware that violation of this right leaves people with an indelible imprint, which inevitably generates hatred and violence. And thirdly, in developed societies the right to satisfy one’s basic needs is associated with the right to work which its possessor can satisfy. Economic globalization is producing the opposite effect of what it was supposed to achieve, namely, to free both developed (pockets of poverty) and underdeveloped countries from hunger and misery. In the latter case poverty has been increasing by leaps and bounds, being further aggravated by post-colonial conflicts and internal wars which for a number of people resulted in a wish to escape from inhuman conditions because they did not find their way out of this situation in their own country. This leads to formation of areas of insecurity that will ultimately endanger security of both the underdeveloped countries and the most developed ones. The major part of security studies neglect this dimension focusing instead on national and international security. Military forces serve as a guarantor of the territorial integrity and political sovereignty against external aggression.
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