Barry Gordon Buzan, FBA, FAcSS (born 28 April 1946) is a British political scientist. He is an Emeritus Professor of International Relations at the
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) is a public university, public research university located in London, England and a constituent college of the federal University of London. Founded in 1895 by Fabian Society members Sidn ...
and a honorary professor at the
University of Copenhagen
The University of Copenhagen ( da, Københavns Universitet, KU) is a prestigious public research university in Copenhagen, Denmark. Founded in 1479, the University of Copenhagen is the second-oldest university in Scandinavia after Uppsala Unive ...
and
Jilin University. Until 2012 he was
Montague Burton Professor of International Relations
The Montague Burton Professorship of International Relations is a named chair at the University of Oxford and the London School of Economics and Political Science. Created by the endowment of Montague Burton in UK universities, the Oxford chair w ...
at the LSE. Buzan sketched the
Regional Security Complex Theory and is therefore together with
Ole Wæver a central figure of the
Copenhagen School.
Career
From 1988 to 2002 he was Project Director at the
Copenhagen Peace Research Institute (COPRI). From 1995 to 2002 he was research Professor of International Studies at the
University of Westminster
The University of Westminster is a public university, public university based in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1838 as the Royal Polytechnic Institution, it was the first Polytechnic (United Kingdom), polytechnic to open in London. The Polyte ...
, and before that Professor of International Studies at the
University of Warwick
, mottoeng = Mind moves matter
, established =
, type = Public research university
, endowment = £7.0 million (2021)
, budget = £698.2 million (2020â ...
. During 1993 he was visiting professor at the
International University of Japan
The is a private university located in Minamiuonuma city in Niigata Prefecture, Japan.
IUJ is the first graduate university in Japan, not offering undergraduate degrees, and one of the few Japanese universities which offers all courses in En ...
, and in 1997-8 he was Olof Palme Visiting Professor in Sweden.
He was Chairman of the
British International Studies Association 1988-90, Vice-President of the (North American)
International Studies Association
The International Studies Association (ISA) is a US-based professional association for scholars and practitioners in the field of international studies. Founded in 1959, ISA has been headquartered at the University of Connecticut in Storrs sin ...
1993-4, and founding Secretary of the International Studies Coordinating Committee 1994-8. From 1999 to 2011 he was the general coordinator of a project to reconvene the
English school of international relations theory, and from 2004 to 2008 he was editor of the ''
European Journal of International Relations
The ''European Journal of International Relations'' is a quarterly peer-reviewed academic journal covering international relations. It is published by Sage Publications on behalf of the European Standing Group on International Relations of the Eu ...
''. In 1998 he was elected a fellow of the
British Academy
The British Academy is the United Kingdom's national academy for the humanities and the social sciences.
It was established in 1902 and received its royal charter in the same year. It is now a fellowship of more than 1,000 leading scholars spa ...
, and in 2001 he was elected to the
Academy of Learned Societies for the Social Sciences
The Academy of Social Sciences is a representative body for social sciences in the United Kingdom. The Academy promotes social science through its sponsorship of the Campaign for Social Science, its links with Government on a variety of matters, a ...
.
Research interests
Buzan defines his interests as:
#the conceptual and regional aspects of
international security;
#international history, and the evolution of the international system since prehistory;
#international relations theory, particularly
structural realism;
#international society, and the '
English School' approach to International Relations.
Buzan was a major contributor to the
Copenhagen School of political thought, being the first to the various forms of
securitization by the state. Buzan connected this concept to
regional security complex theory.
Personal life
Buzan was born in London, but his family emigrated to Canada in 1954. He holds the citizenships of the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
and
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, Buzan is a graduate of the
University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks among the top thre ...
(1968) where he started an uncompleted master programme. He received his doctorate at the London School of Economics (1973). He describes his political views as ''social democratic'' and his religious views as ''extreme
secularist
Secularism is the principle of seeking to conduct human affairs based on secular, naturalistic considerations.
Secularism is most commonly defined as the separation of religion from civil affairs and the state, and may be broadened to a sim ...
''.
Buzan's wife, Deborah Skinner, is an artist and youngest daughter of psychologist
B. F. Skinner
Burrhus Frederic Skinner (March 20, 1904 – August 18, 1990) was an American psychologist, behaviorist, author, inventor, and Social philosophy, social philosopher. He was a professor of psychology at Harvard University from 1958 until his ret ...
.
They have no children. His brother was author
Tony Buzan
Anthony Peter "Tony" Buzan (; 2 June 1942 – 13 April 2019) was an English author and educational consultant.
Buzan popularised the idea of mental literacy, radiant thinking, and a technique called mind mapping, inspired by techniques used by ...
, with whom he co-authored ''The Mind Map Book''.
Works
Buzan has published extensively, his most important works include:
*''People, States & Fear: The National Security Problem in International Relations '' (1983; revised second edition 1991)
*''The Logic of Anarchy: Neorealism to Structural Realism'' (1993) with Charles Jones and Richard Little
*''
Security: A New Framework for Analysis'' (1997) with
Ole Waever,
Jaap De Wilde
Jacobus Hubertus "Jaap" de Wilde (born 17 May 1957) is a Dutch academic. A native of Zuidlaren, he is a Professor of International Relations and Security Studies at the University of Groningen since 2007. He headed the department of International ...
*''The Arms Dynamic in World Politics'' (1998) with
Eric Herring
*''The Mind Map Book'' (2000) with Tony Buzan
*''
Regions and Powers: The Structure of International Security'' (2003) with
Ole Waever
*''The United States and the Great Powers: World Politics in the Twenty-First Century'' (2004)
*''From International to World Society? English School Theory and the Social Structure of Globalisation'' (2004)
*''The Evolution of International Security Studies'' (2009) with Lene Hansen.
*''Non-Western International Relations Theory: Perspectives on and beyond Asia'' (2010) editor with Amitav Acharya.
*''An Introduction to the English School of International Relations: The Societal Approach'' (2014).
*''The Global Transformation: History, Modernity and the Making of International Relations'' (2015) with George Lawson
*''The Making of Global International Relations: Origins and Evolution of IR at its Centenary'' (2019) with Amitav Acharya
Awards
Buzan won the
American Society of International Law
The American Society of International Law (ASIL), founded in 1906, was chartered by the United States Congress in 1950 to foster the study of international law, and to promote the establishment and maintenance of international relations on the ba ...
's 1982 Francis Deak Prize for his article ''Navigating by Consensus: Developments in the Technique at the United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea''.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Buzan, Barry
Living people
British political scientists
Academics of the London School of Economics
Academics of the University of Warwick
Academics of the University of Westminster
Constructivist international relations scholars
Political realists
Fellows of the British Academy
1946 births
Copenhagen School (security studies)
University of Copenhagen faculty
Jilin University faculty
Alumni of the London School of Economics