Human Security and Mutual Vulnerability: The Global Political Economy of Development and Underdevelopment

The central thesis of this book is that the seemingly secure societies of the North are increasingly vulnerable to events in the less secure and hence underdeveloped regions of the globe in a manner that conventional international relations and development theory have failed to take into account. The first chapter outlines a theoretical framework for studying global transformations. In this approach, the specific & general, the micro & macro, the short & long run, and the parts & the whole are analytically interrelated, with emphasis on the changes and continuities of structures over time. The framework perspective is essentially inter- and trans-disciplinary, and involves the concept of a world system comprising five elements: ecology or environment, economy, society, polity, and culture. The rest of the book analyzes human insecurity and dysfunction in each of these elements, with discussion of their context, culture, structures, processes, and effects. The conclusion discusses the global predicament with four basic observations relating to the insecurity crisis.