The Implications of Securitizing the Environment in Apocalyptic Times

Abstract

This paper uses an analysis of three securitizations of the environment to identify a gap within contemporary security studies made by the limitations of the existing framework of securitization theory. I argue there are two dominant mid-level securitizations of the environment which have taken place, one through a national security perspective, the other a human security perspective, both of which are being challenged by a newly emerging third macrosecuritization of the environment, an anthropogenic perspective. Using an analysis of all three securitizations, I illustrate that not all securitizations are created equal because once an issue is securitized it may vary within levels of extremity. The various levels of extremity are associated with the scale of securitization that has taken place (i.e. the larger the securitization, the higher the extremity). This analysis supports the argument that the current framework of securitization theory does not have the capacity to effectively analyze securitizations of a scale as large as the anthropogenic securitization of the environment. This paper will illustrate the need for a new framework within contemporary security studies that has the capacity to study issues of this scale as they become more predominant in the future as the effects of climate change and environmental degradation worsen.