Definition
Posited by J.L. Austin, the Speech Act Theory considers language use as a type of action, and not merely as a medium to convey information and express thoughts. For example, the sentence “For security reasons, the girls are not allowed to come out from their hostels after 08.00 PM.” is considered as a speech act as it has two elements in it: to provide protection to girls as well as forcing them to remain inside their hostels. So, the speech act for security reasons is performative.
Introduction
Unlike the objectivist approaches which define security in terms of a threat and recommend that it can be controlled by the military force acted by state actors (Walt 1991, p. 212), the Copenhagen School challenges this stance and defines security as a speech act. The School conceptualizes security within the analytical framework of “securitization,” and not as an objective condition. Weaver, an advocate of this framework, argues that security is a speech act (Buzan et al. 1998, p....
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Further Reading
Buzan, B., Waever, O., & de Wilde, J. (1998). Security a new framework for analysis. Boulder: Lynne Rienner.
Citizenship (Amendment) Act 2019: What is it and why is it seen as a problem. (2019, December 31). The Economic Times. https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/et-explains/citizenship-amendment-bill-what-does-it-do-and-why-is-it-seen-as-a-problem/articleshow/72436995.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst
Does security exist outside of the speech act? (2011, October 9). E-International Relations. https://www.e-ir.info/2011/10/09/does-security-exist-outside-of-the-speech-act/
Waever, O. (1995). Securitisation and desuritisation. In R. D. Lipschutz (Ed.), On security (pp. 46–87). New York: Columbia University Press.
Walt, S. M. (1991). The renaissance of security studies. International Studies Quarterly, 35, 211–239.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Dwivedi, A.V. (2021). Speech Act Theory. In: Romaniuk, S., Thapa, M., Marton, P. (eds) The Palgrave Encyclopedia of Global Security Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74336-3_132-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-74336-3_132-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-74336-3
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-74336-3
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Political Science and International StudiesReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences