Human Security: Paradigm Shift or Hot Air?

Abstract

What is human security? Is it a new paradigm as some would suggest? Or empty rhetoric? Can scholars and practitioners agree on what it is and is not? In considering recent efforts to redefine international security in terms of human security, Roland Paris of the University of Colorado argues that the term is still "so vague that it verges on meaninglessness—and consequently offers little practical guidance to academics who might be interested in applying the concept, or to policymakers who must prioritize among competing policy goals." Paris proposes instead that human security become the label for a broad category of research within the security studies field.