The Morality of Security: A Theory of Just Securitization

When is it permissible to move an issue out of normal politics and treat it as a security issue? How should the security measures be conducted? When and how should the securitization be reversed? Floyd offers answers to these questions by combining security studies’ influential securitization theory with philosophy’s long-standing just war tradition, creating a major new approach to the ethics of security: ‘Just Securitization Theory’. Of interest to anyone concerned with ethics and security, Floyd’s innovative approach enables scholars to normatively evaluate past and present securitizations, equips practitioners to make informed judgements on what they ought to do in relevant situations, and empowers the public to hold relevant actors accountable for how they practise security. Dr Rita Floyd is Lecturer in Conflict and Security at the Department of Political Science and International Studies, University of Birmingham. Her books include Security and the Environment: Securitisation Theory and US Environmental Security Policy (Cambridge University Press, 2010) and her articles have appeared in journals including the Review of International Studies, Security Dialogue, and The Journal of International Relations and Development, amongst others.