Abstract

In the past few decades, political scientists have noticed a trend of actors linking the issue of development to security in order to emphasize its importance and legitimize action. This discursive act, known as securitization, transforms a lack of development into an existential threat that actors must protect against at all costs. Though scholars agree that this process of framing certain topics as security issues occurs, there is little information on what impact it may have on policy creation or policy outcomes. This study examines how the securitization of development impacts actual development outcomes. I hypothesize that securitization will cause greater prioritization of development because security issues draw greater attention and resources, but that it will not lead to improved development outcomes because of the instrumentalizing nature of securitization. I use the case study of Colombia during the 1990s to track the process of the securitization of development and any resulting changes in development. I find that though there are positive changes to prioritization of development, securitization does not impact development outcomes.

Advisor

Krain, Matthew

Second Advisor

Medina, Hernán

Department

Global and International Studies; Spanish

Publication Date

2022

Degree Granted

Bachelor of Arts

Document Type

Senior Independent Study Thesis Exemplar

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