Towards a pedagogy for critical security studies: Politics of migration in the classroom

International relations has increasingly paid attention to critical pedagogy. Feminist, postcolonial, and poststructuralist international relations scholarship, in particular, have long been advancing discussions about how to create a pluralist and democratic classroom where “the others” of politics can be heard by the students, who then can critically reflect upon complex power relations in global politics. Despite its normative position, critical security studies has so far refrained from joining this pedagogical conversation. International relations scholars in critical security studies can contribute to the production of a critical political subject in the “uncomfortable classroom,” one who reflects on violent practices of security. Three pedagogical methods will be discussed here: engaging with the students’ lifeworlds, revealing the positionality of security knowledge claims, and opening up the classroom to the choices about how student agency can be performed beyond the classroom. The argument is illustrated with reference to international relations and politics students’ perceptions of Syrian refugees in Turkey. The article advances the discussion in critical international relations pedagogy and encourages critical security studies scholarship to focus on teaching in accordance with its normative position.