The history of security dates back to earlier times of human beings. It is a vital concern that everybody agrees on its importance, but the perception of security varies among people, and in time they tend to change. In earlier times, the definition of security was very much limited, and the understanding was narrow. However, today we are talking about a wider perception of security, which contains tangible and intangible assets such as information.
Feminists claimed that security should be not only about states, and the individual’s situation has to be also considered. Also, they are in favor of an approach that accepts everything standing in front of the self-realization process of human beings as a security threat. That understanding was not likely to suit a state leader’s attitude until a global crisis happened. With the coronavirus, the situation has changed. Both individuals, and state leaders understand that health can be perceived as a threat and security materials are not only guns, and tanks, or missiles. They also understand that the opportunity cost of giving the biggest share of the income to the military spending cost too much.
In the future, there may be some other threats that are related to education, infrastructure, agriculture, or health again. When we look at the indicators attentively, we will see that agricultural problems are waiting for human beings thanks to global warming, such as grasshoppers that spread continentally, environmental degradation because of industrialization, and so on. This changing atmosphere of the world directed me to think that not only security, but also every subfield of international relations is changing. Generally accepted theories of the era are also obliged to shift. The changing understanding on the subject of security, provider of the security, and the tools of the security, means that security understanding is shifting towards the Feminist school of International Relations discipline.
Rabia Sezer
References
Blanchard, Eric M. (2003). “Gender, International Relations and the Development of Feminist Security Theory”, Journal of Women in Culture and Society, Volume 28, No 4, p. 1289-1312.
Demirtaş, Birgül, “Feminizm ve Güvenlik”, Güvenlik Yazıları Serisi, No.3, Eylül 2019. Retrained by https://trguvenlikportali.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/FeminizmGuvenlik_BirgulDemirtas_v.2.pdf
Gasztold, Aleksandra. (2017), A feminist approach to security studies, Przegląd Politologiczny
Peterson, V. Spike (1992), “Security and Sovereign States: What Is at Stake in Taking Feminism Seriously?” Sylvester, Christine. (1994), Feminist Theory and International Relations in the Post-Modern Era, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
