2nd Edition

Research Methods in Critical Security Studies An Introduction

Edited By Mark B. Salter, Can E. Mutlu, Philippe M. Frowd Copyright 2023
332 Pages
by Routledge

332 Pages
by Routledge

332 Pages
by Routledge

This textbook surveys new and emergent methods for doing research in critical security studies, filling a gap in the literature. The second edition has been revised and updated. This textbook is a practical guide to research design in this increasingly established field. Arguing for serious attention to questions of research design and method, the book develops accessible scholarly overviews... Read more

1. Introduction

Mark B. Salter, Philippe M. Frowd & Can E. Mutlu

PART I: RESEARCH DESIGN

2. Research Design

Mark B. Salter

3. Wondering as Research Attitude

Luis Lobo-Guerrero

4. Do You Have What It Takes? Accounting for Emotional and Material Capacities

Anne-Marie D'Aoust

5. Attuning to 'Mess': Not Presuming to Know Sanctuary

Vicki Squire

6. Engaging Collaborative Writing Critically

Miguel de Larrinaga & Marc G. Doucet

7. Accessing the ‘Field' of Terrorism Studies

Lisa Stampnitzky

PART II: ETHNOGRAPHY

8. Ethnography

Philippe M. Frowd

9. Travelling with Ethnography

Wanda Vrasti

10. Reflexive Inquiry

Rahel Kunz

11. Listening to Migrant Stories: Considerations on Voice

Heather L. Johnson

12. Learning by Feeling: Emotional Intelligence and Fieldwork

Jesse Crane-Seeber

13. Doing Sensitive Research: Fieldwork Ethics and Methodologies

Megan Daigle

14. ‘China is the Safest Country in the World!’: Translation, Travel, and the Problem of Fit’

Jonna Nyman

15. Methods that Mirror Migration: Ethics and Entanglement En Route

Noelle Brigden

16. Researching Security Decisions at the Border (or Serendipity and Secret Places)

Alexandra Hall

17. ‘Dangerous' Fieldwork

Jonathan Luke Austin

PART III: PRACTICES

18. Practices

Mark B. Salter

19. The Practice of Writing

Hannah Hughes

20. Researching Anti-Deportation: Socialization as Method

Peter Nyers

21. Expertise in the Aviation Security Field

Mark B. Salter

22. Mapping Urban Security Practices

Jonas Hagmann

23. Following Turkish Border Practices

Beste İşleyen

PART IV: DISCOURSE

24. Discourse

Philippe M. Frowd, Can E. Mutlu & Mark B. Salter

25. Archives

Luis Lobo-Guerrero

26. Legislative Practices

Andrew W. Neal

27. Problems, Tools, and Creativity: A Pragmatist Approach to Emotion and Security

Eric Van Rythoven

28. Keeping Secrets: Freedom of Information Requests and Critical Security Studies

Emily Gilbert

29. Understanding Discourses of Arctic In/Security

Wilfrid Greaves

PART V: CORPOREAL

30. The Corporeal

Can E. Mutlu & Philippe M. Frowd

31. Theorizing the Body in IR

Rosemary E. Shinko

32. Reading the Maternal Body as Political Event

Tina Managhan

33. Sonic Encounters in Critical Security Studies: Reflections from Ethnographic Fieldwork in Morocco

Michelle Weitzel

34. Thinking Like a Microbe

Gitte du Plessis

PART VI: MATERIALITY

35. Materiality

Mark B. Salter & Can E. Mutlu

36. Infrastructure

Claudia Aradau

37. The F-35

Srdjan Vucetic

38. Complicating Risk, Home and the Field: Security Research in Spaces of Control

Nicole Sunday Grove

39. Unlearning Research Methods: Stories of Attunement and Failure

Debbie Lisle

40. Security Technologies and Criticality

Mathias Leese

41. Materiality and the Production of Objects

Joanna Tidy

PART VII: CONCLUSION

42. Emerging Trends

Mark B. Salter, Philippe M. Frowd & Can E. Mutlu

Biography

Mark B. Salter is Professor in the School of Political Studies, University of Ottawa, Canada. He is the author/editor of eight books, including Making Things International 1 and 2 (2015 and 2016). He is also Editor-in-Chief of the journal Security Dialogue.

Can E. Mutlu is Associate Professor of Global Politics at Acadia University in Wolfville, NS, Canada. His research interests include borders, migration, technology, and security. He is the co-editor of Architectures of Security: Design, Control, Mobility (with Benjamin J. Muller).

Philippe M. Frowd is Associate Professor in the School of Political Studies at the University of Ottawa, Canada. His research focuses on the governance of irregular migration and border control in the Sahel region of West Africa. He is the author of Security at the Borders (2018).

‘Questions of method have become increasing pertinent to the pedagogies and research practices of critical security studies. Research Methods in Critical Security Studies (2nd edition) makes a timely contribution by providing a range of answers to these questions. In doing so, RMCSS strikes a judicious balance that will appeal to seasoned researchers looking to adopt new approaches as well as students who may be embarking upon their first substantive research project in the field. While richly informed by cutting edge conceptual, methodological, and theoretical literature, the discussions are practical, precise, and plain-spoken—they cut straight to the chase in order to equip the reader with capabilities to do reflexive research in critical security studies and navigate common challenges found within and across methods. With new chapters and updated materials, the 2nd edition captures recent developments within the field while maintaining the accessibility and pragmatism that were hallmarks of the first edition. As such, the 2nd edition is an excellent teaching and research resource for everyone in the field.’

Kyle Grayson, Newcastle University, UK


'This volume shows how doing critical and reflexive research can go hand-in-hand with rigorous methodology. The book is indispensable to researchers in critical security studies broadly defined, from graduate student to project leader. It is filled with useful practical examples and fascinating case studies. I have used it in my thesis seminar for years, and it is great that we now have an updated and expanded second edition, that combines attention to state-of-the-art theory with clear advice on practical means and modes of doing research.'

Marieke de Goede, University of Amsterdam, Netherlands

'If ''methods'' are off-the-shelf tools that can be casually picked up and deployed, then this is not a methods book. It is instead an invitation to critical inquiry, and a rich tapestry of examples showing how attitudes of reflexivity and a healthy skepticism about received concepts and categories are in no way incompatible with clear and sustained attention to questions of research design. This is a rich feast for critical researchers to devour.'

Patrick Thaddeus Jackson, American University, USA