The Unacknowledged Consensus: a genealogy of political security

Abstract

As a political concept, security must emerge from the circumstance, context and identity of a political group; it is a function of a practical political environment, rather than an innate constituent, attribute or ingredient of logic or reason. Despite this, philosophical treatments of security have been prosecuted with the assumption that security simply is - that security is a given state within political considerations, rather than a concept that emerged as a result of concrete circumstance.

This thesis seeks to redress this by examining the various cultural and political considerations that have come to shape the emergence of security as a political consideration in the Anglo-Western tradition. By first finding the point at which security emerges as a systematically employed political concept, and then examining the various points in political and cultural history that are invoked in that usage, we build a picture of the various streams of thought that coalesced into the term 'security' as it was used in the modern era. As such, the study examines the political pamphlets of the English Civil War, as well as works by ancient Athenians, Romans, theologians and Saxon kings, all to create a cultural landscape on which various key themes and consequences can be identified.

Identifying these inheritances will not provide us with a definition, nor a 'right answer' as to what security is today, but can instead identify the political conditions in which the term was used, as well as identify the political needs inherent in that condition that gave security its utility. This will simultaneously enrich our myriad understanding of the term whilst also providing needed direction in regards to the contestability of the term as it is used today. As a concept borne out of political need, by understanding that need as it was will at the very least allow us to ascertain to what degree that need is being met by the word today; further, understanding the practical need it satisfied might inform how we might proceed if we find its current utility wanting.