The Concept of Human Security: What is Human Security?

Retrieved from International Migration: The Nexus Between Security and Migration of African Migrants. DOI:10.2139/ssrn.3911558

Human Security has been used or defined in several forms by academics and countries to guide their policy making processes (Tadjbakhsh and Chenoy, 2007). As a result, there is no generally accepted definition of human security. The argument has centered on the ambiguity and vague usage of the concept (Paris, 2001) whereas attempts have been made to narrow the definition of the concept (Mack2002). The diverse views on human security highlight the differences and complexity of how to measure or achieve human security (King and Murray, 2000; Leaning and Arie, 2000).

However, these definitions of the concept of human security have focused on the theme freedom from fear (freedom from violence) and freedom from want (freedom from poverty) (King and Murray, 2000; Leaning and Arie, 2000; UNDP, 1994; World Bank, 2001, Paris, 2001; Thomas, 2000; Hampson et al., 2002). The first documented definition of the concept was defined by the UNDP in its Human Development Report in 1994 though the idea of the concept was in existence as far as 1945 (Alkire, 2003). Human Security according to the UNDP report is defined as “safety from such chronic threat as hunger, disease and repression, and protection from sudden and hurtful disruptions in the patterns of daily lives, whether in homes, jobs or communities.” King and Murray (2000) defined human security as an individual’s “expectation of a life without experiencing the state of generalized poverty.”According to Hampson et al., (2002), human security can be defined as the absence of threat to the physical safety of the individual and the protection of basic liberties, economic needs and interests. To Thomas (2000), human security entails basic material needs, human dignity and democracy. Thus, human security describes a condition of existence in which basic material needs are met and in which human dignity, including meaningful participation in the life of the community, can be met (Alkire, 2003).

One common interest of focus of the varying views on human security is that human security is people-centered. This highlights the importance of people at the mention of security which has not been the primary focus of traditional security.

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References

Alkire, S. (2003). A Conceptual Framework for Human Security. Centre for Research on Inequality, Human Security and Ethnicity. CRISE Working Paper. Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.

Hampson, F. O., Daudelin, J., Hay, J. B., Martin, T. & Reid, H. (2002). Madness in the Multitude: Human Security and World Disorder. Ottawa: Oxford University Press.

King, G. & Murray, C. J. L. (2001). Rethinking Human Security. Political Science

Quarterly, 116(4), pp.585-610.

Leaning, J. & Arie, S. (2000). Human Security: A Framework for Assessment in Conflict and Transition. Prepared for US AID /Tulane Complex Emergency Response and Transition Initiative (CERTI), Tulane University.

Mack, A.(2002).Human security in the new millennium. Work in Progress: A Review of Research of the United Nations University 16 (Summer2002): 4 Available at

http://unu.edu/hq/ginfo/wip/wip16-3-sum2002.pdf

Paris, R. (2001). Human Security: Paradigm Shift or Hot Air? International Security 26.2, 87-102

United Nations Development Programme (1994). Human Development Report 1994.

New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Tadjbakhsh, S. & Chenoy, A. (2007). Human Security: Concepts and Implications. London: Routledge

Thomas, C. (2000). Global governance, development and human security the challenge of poverty and inequality. London and Sterling, VA: Pluto Press.

World Bank (2001). World Development Report 2000/2001: Attacking Poverty. NewYork: Published for the World Bank by Oxford University Press.