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*Danger in the Post-Cold War Era: Nation, Environmental Security and Postcolonial Feminism
Paper prepared for the International Studies Association 46
th
Annual Convention
Honolulu, Hawaii March 1-5, 2005
Panel FA24 Im/migration, Gender and Narration, Friday March 4
th
, 8:30-10:15am
Jessica LeAnn Urban, PhD
Women’s Studies Program
Humboldt State University
Arcata, CA 95521
## email not listed ##
Work in progress ~ Comments welcome ~ Please cite with permission only
Abstract: Danger in the Post-Cold War Era: Nation, Environmental Security and Postcolonial
Feminism
Mainstream IR scholars and political leaders tend to highlight dramatic changes in international
affairs since the end of the Cold War. Many surmise that not only have the actors and issues changed,
but so too have understandings of sovereignty and nation, as the types of security threats and
articulations of power continue to evolve and expand with frightening intensity. For mainstream
Environmental Security (ES) scholars in IR, one of the most significant changes is the recognition of
environmental destruction as a threat to international stability. I examine US government security
documents (from 1994 to 2001) to determine the role of mainstream ES discourse within post-Cold
War constructions of nation. I interrogate how ES discourse on immigration across the US/Mexico
border engages nation and national security, placing particular emphasis on the extent to which this
discourse is informed by constructions of “others” in its identification and interpretation of security
threats.
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INTRODUCTION
Mainstream International Relations (IR) scholars and political leaders highlight dramatic
changes in international affairs since the end of the Cold War, arguing that not only have the actors and
issues changed, but so too have understandings of sovereignty and nation, as the types of security
threats and articulations of power continue to evolve and expand with frightening intensity. In fact,
despite the fact that ecological concerns have not been a primary area of focus for IR scholars
historically, mainstream Environmental Security (ES) scholars in IR now recognize environmental
destruction as a significant threat to international stability. Critics charge however, that mainstream ES
scholarship is grounded in Neo-Malthusian dooms-day scenarios that continue to target “Third
World”
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population growth and immigration as a cause of environmental insecurity in the US. In fact,
critics refer to contemporary linkages between the erosion of environmental security and immigration
the “greening of hate” (Silliman 1999:xii; Hartmann, 2000:2).
Targeting immigration is not new; it has often been regarded as a “security or civilizational
threat to the US” (Persaud, 2002:56). The work of Persaud (2002), Doty (1996), and Manzo (1996)
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