Human Insecurity

Deepak Prakash Bhatt, PhD

Status• Theoretical approaches to IR

• Realism• Liberalism• Marxism• Neo-liberalism• Constructivism

• IPE• PE• Globalization • IT and IF• IMR• Discontent and GFC

• Environment, Population and HS

Human security• Post cold war study, contested and ill defined • Early 90’s many scholars started to talk about

public security • Multi-disciplinary understanding of security

involving a number of research fields-• International relations• Development studies• Strategic and security studies • Human rights

….• Mahbub al Haq produced UNDP’s HDR in 1994 • Considered a milestone publication in the

field of human security• Raised to insure

• Freedom from want• Freedom from fear

• For all persons is the best path to tackle the problem of global insecurity

….• Human security is an emerging

paradigm for understanding global security challenges

• Challenge the traditional notion of national security by arguing that the proper referent for security should be the individual rather than the state

• People-centered view of security is necessary for national, regional and global stability

Poverty, Under-development, Hunger and

Diseases • Deprivation of basic human needs-food,

water, sanitation, clothing, shelter, health care and education

• Contextual • Absolute or Extreme poverty or Abject

poverty-a condition characterized by severe deprivation of basic human needs

• It depends not only on income but also on access to services

….• Relative poverty-measure of income equality• Socially defined and dependent on social

context• Relative poverty is measured as the

percentage of population with income less than some fixed proportion of income

• Poverty reduction• Poverty Alleviation Fund

Under-development• Lack of food, housing, drinking water, access to job

opportunities, health care, education and housing• Underdevelopment is a condition when resources

are not used to their full socio-economic potential, with the result that local or regional development is slower in most cases than it should be

• Complex interplay of internal and external factors• Underdeveloped nations are characterized by a

wide disparity between their rich and poor populations, and an unhealthy balance of trade

….• Dependency theory is the notion that

resources flow from a "periphery" of poor and underdeveloped states to a "core" of wealthy states, enriching the latter at the expense of the former

• It is a central contention of dependency theory that poor states are impoverished and rich ones enriched by the way poor states are integrated into the world system

….• It rejected modernization theory view

that developed countries are merely a primitive version of underdeveloped countries

• But have unique features and structures of their own; and, importantly, are in the situation of being the weaker members in a world market economy

Hunger• Physical sensation

• Malnutrition-inadequate food • Famine-widespread scarcity of food• Starvation- lake of food and state of

exhaustion of body

• Throughout the history large portion of world population suffered

• Undernourished people around the world is about 19 % in 1990 and 12 % in 2010

….• Amartya Sen-hunger is not because of

lack of food but arises from food distribution system or from government policies

• Food riots in Haiti and Madagascar• Food Sovereignty- Food First• MDGs in 8 area

….• To eradicate extreme poverty and hunger• To achieve universal primary education• To promote gender equality and empowering women• To reduce child mortality rates• To improve maternal health• To combat HIV/AIDS, malaria, and other diseases• To ensure environmental sustainability• To develop a global partnership for development

diseases• Abnormal condition that affects the body of an organism

• Communicable diseases • Infectious diseases• Chronic diseases • Autoimmune diseases

• Environmental, social reasons-crowded living and working conditions, inadequate sanitation, and disproportionate occupation

• Malnutrition, stress, overwork, and inadequate, inaccessible, or non-existent health care can hinder recovery and exacerbate the disease

• Diseases of poverty, and lack of skilled attendants during childbirth is primarily responsible for the high maternal and infant death rates among the poor

Books• Apter, David E. Rethinking Development:

Modernization, Dependency and Post Modern Politics, Newbury Park, Calif: Sage, 1987

• Michaly, E.B., (2009). Foreign Aid and Politics in Nepal: A case study, Lalitpur: Himal Books

• Sachs, J.(2011). The End of Poverty: How can we make it happen in our lifetime, Penguin Books Limited

• Todaro, M.P. & Smith, S.C. (2012) Economic Development, 11th Edition, Pearson Education