Languages as institutions of power/knowledge in Canadian critical security studies: a personal tale of an insider/outsider

Abstract

This piece is a reflexive account of my own upbringing in the fields of International Relations (IR) and especially of security studies in Canada. It addresses the issue of language in the critical study of security in Canada and it is written through my incursion in this field. In effect, it focuses on the mere absence of Francophone scholarship in this emerging subfield of Canadian critical security studies. The article first recounts the rise of Canadian critical security studies through my encounter with critical security studies, pointing out the momentum gained by the September 11, 2001 events, before looking at languages as institutions of power/knowledge, notably in taking into account the status of English as dominant language in the discipline of IR. The second portion of the article explores the path toward ‘études critiques de sécurité au Québec et au Canada’, highlighting the political nature of language for Francophone Québécois and Canadians before addressing the status of French as a ‘border language’ for Francophones in both the discipline of IR (interior border) and English Canada (exterior border).