Conflict and Security

Lyon, Stephen M.

Abstract

Conflict and security although related, imply different domains. Conflict has long been a pre-occupation of anthropology. Underlying assumptions about how best to understand conflict have shifted over the years, but it is probably fair to say that anthropologists have been at the forefront of challenging accepted wisdom about meanings and practices associated with conflict since its earliest days. Security, on the other hand, is a more recent interest within anthropology. Security studies really grew as a distinct field of study in the aftermath of 11 September, 2001. It has been dominated by International Relations (IR) and political science, but anthropology has a long history of studying social institutions that form part of the security apparatus. In many respects, anthropology, although not primarily concerned with state institutions is ideally suited to understand the interplay between economic, political, historical and cultural forces shaping the experiences and structure of security and conflict.

Citation

Lyon, S. M. (2018). Conflict and Security. In P. Sillitoe (Ed.), International encyclopedia of anthropology. John Wiley and Sons. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118924396.wbiea2011

• Online Publication Date: Sep 5, 2018
• Publication Date: Sep 5, 2018
• Deposit Date: May 22, 2017
• Publicly Available Date: Sep 5, 2020
• Book Title: International encyclopedia of anthropology.
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118924396.wbiea2011
• Keywords: Conflict, Security, Development.
• Public URL: https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1668590
• Contract Date: May 20, 2017