Description
Addressing the challenge of teaching security without reproducing dominant structures and forms of knowledge is critical for all attempts aimed at reimagining the discipline. Security analysts prefer to examine immediate necessities rather than longer-term possibilities, exceptions rather than norms, empirical rather than theoretical knowledge, practical applicability rather than guiding principles. These tendencies are often justified through rhetorical claims about ‘realism,’ despite the necessarily contentious character of what counts as real or realistic and overwhelming evidence of the mutually constitutive character of present moments and historical trajectories, norms and exceptions, empirical and theoretical knowledge as well as principles and practices. Yet as critical approaches to security try to insist, relations between these paired terms are always complicated, in ways that often suggest different possibilities for being and acting politically. Such attempts are often met with predictable accusations of a naïve retreat to abstract theorizing lacking real-world applicability. This paper develops a pedagogical contribution by designing, applying, and reflecting on a strategy that bridges the gap between thinking and practicing security. This paper challenges traditional security teaching methods by adopting what we call a non-compartmentalized pedagogy. It encourages the exploration of diverse theoretical perspectives and their practical implications, highlighting the inherently political nature of theorizing security. This approach aims to provide a more nuanced and inclusive understanding of security, moving beyond the 'add and stir' approach (Bilgin 2010) to genuinely integrate diverse traditions into the discipline.
