ABSTRACT

This chapter articulates a communicative perspective on the security-related terms of neoliberalism, globalisation, and militarism. Specifically, it adopts a Dramatistic approach informed by Kenneth Burke that moves beyond a mere description of the terms as concepts to emphasise their workings upon the social world as politically organised action. The chapter treats those key terms as characters who act upon the world in contradictory yet overlapping ways. In critical terms, a perspective grounded in action implies a moral assessment of the terms and their effects. I conclude that all three are threats to human security at every level unless their humanistic motives are understood and counterbalanced by communicative efforts aimed at mitigating moral deficiencies in public discourse.