Book review: An Introduction to Non-Traditional Security Studies: A Transnational Approach
| Published date | 01 September 2018 |
| Author | Hollianne Marshall |
| DOI | 10.1177/0269758018762632 |
| Date | 01 September 2018 |
| Subject Matter | Book reviews |
Put simply, this book is a must-read for scholars and students interested in victimology. It can
also help practitioners and policy-makers make sense of a complex world with an ever-changing
political context. Walklate succeeds in creating a comprehensive handbook which takes us further
down the path to understanding crime and victimization. It remains to be seen in what direction
victimology is heading. But one thing is clear: more critical work, where we investigate victimiza-
tion in relation to ideology and power structures, is needed to allay any remaining mistrust against
victimology as a discipline.
Mely Caballero-Anthony (ed.)
An Introduction to Non-Traditional Security Studies: A Transnational Approach.
Los Angeles, USA: SAGE, 2016; xiii þ276p.; ISBN 978-1-4462-8608-1 (paperback)
Reviewed by: Hollianne Marshall, California State University, Fresno, USA
DOI: 10.1177/0269758018762632
Mely Caballero-Anthony has edited a text that gives a well-rounded look at the various issues in
security from a transnational perspective. This book is divided into two parts. Part A is designed to
introduce the reader to concepts in non-traditional security studies, a focus on security that looks
beyond the state at individuals and communities, highlighting various theories, stakeholders, and
other actors involved. Essentially, it aims to broaden the understanding of security issues to include
approaches outside of government mandates and border control.
Chapter 1 looks at different perspectives on the concept of ‘security’ after the Cold War (p.4).
This leads into a discussion on how non-traditional security developed, and more importantly, how
we can understand these complex notions of security within a non-traditional framework (p.16).
For example, climate change, food security, pandemics, and financial crises are security issues, but
do not require the traditional military response, and therefore we need non-traditional approaches
to solutions for these security issues. Chapter 2 lays the theoretical groundwork for explaining the
many factors involved in security issues and securitization. We begin to understand the failure of
traditional security theories and the need for newer perspectives to explain the current threats to
security (p.24). Traditional security theories tend to focus more on border control and national
security threats like biological and technological warfare. Newer theories address the other issues
of state security, in which individuals and communities may also be part of the solution. In the new
global and transnational climate, focusing on non-militaristic solutions is increasingly important.
Finally, we have perspectives from the ‘third world’ that contribute to our understanding of these
issues (p.31). Currently, theoretical frameworks have not extended as far as explaining securitiza-
tion in ‘decolonized states’ (p.32). Security issues for states without highly trained military forces
have been largely overlooked. The reader is exposed to many different conceptualizations in this
chapter and given a greater understanding of the discourse on security issues, and, more particu-
larly, why non-traditional approaches to security issues are increasingly important. Chapter 3,
written by Alistair D.B. Cook, concludes Part A with a discussion of the actors and stakeholders
involved in security. First, it examines the UN and global governance (p.37), but also regionalism
(p.42) and the private sector (p.47). There is an explanation in this chapter of the many different
forms of governance and the variety of approaches to security at different levels. Not only is there a
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