Abstract
This article describes and analyses the discursive construction of pacifism and nonviolence within the primary arenas of IR, thereby revealing the main mechanisms, constructions and narratives employed to suppress it. Employing critical discourse analysis, it critiques and deconstructs some of the most common assump- tions, arguments, analogies, and narratives that are used to dis- miss and denigrate pacifism. It then analyses some of the primary analytical and ideological consequences which flow from the sub- jugation of pacifism and suggests why and how pacifism could be de-subjugated in IR. Overall, the article argues that there are analytical and normative reasons for taking pacifism far more seriously in security studies and IR.