Drawing on postcolonial and feminist writings, this article re-examines securitization theory’s so-called ‘silence-problem’. Securitization theory sets up a definably colonial relationship whereby certain voices cannot be heard, while other voices try to speak for those who are silenced. The article shows that the subaltern cannot securitize, first, because they are structurally excluded from the concept of security through one of three mechanisms: locutionary silencing, illocutionary disablement, or illocutionary frustration. Second, the subaltern cannot securitize because they are always already being securitized and spoken for – as in this case by the well-meaning intellectuals trying to highlight and remediate their predicament. Third, the subaltern cannot securitize because the popular rendering of securitization theory as critical obfuscates and rationalises their marginalisation. This article thus reveals the ‘colonial moment’ in securitization studies, showing how securitization theory is complicit with securitizations ‘for’ that marginalise and silence globally, not just locally outside ‘the West’.

中文翻译：

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底层可以证券化吗？证券化理论及其批评者的后殖民观点

本文借鉴后殖民主义和女权主义著作，重新审视证券化理论的所谓“沉默问题”。证券化理论建立了一种明确的殖民关系，在这种关系中，某些声音无法被听到，而其他声音则试图为那些沉默的人说话。文章表明，底层不能证券化，首先，因为它们通过以下三种机制之一在结构上被排除在安全概念之外：言辞沉默、言外之意的失能或言外之意的挫败感。其次，底层不能证券化，因为他们总是被证券化和代言——在这种情况下，善意的知识分子试图突出和补救他们的困境。第三，底层不能进行证券化，因为普遍将证券化理论解读为批判性的混淆了他们的边缘化并使其合理化。因此，本文揭示了证券化研究中的“殖民时刻”，展示了证券化理论如何与“为”全球边缘化和沉默的证券化同谋，而不仅仅是“西方”以外的地方。