A contested history of humanitarian protection -- Reframing humanitarian protection -- Intermediaries and the humanitarian network -- Humanitarian brokers and translators -- Humanitarian travellers and local fixers.
Summary:
"This book investigates the relationship between the laws and principles of humanitarian protection, and what happens in practice on the ground in today's wars. Humanitarian protection is based on a set of international laws and universal principles that guide the behaviour of various actors in war, but many armed actors and insurgents assert cultural, political and religious traditions that are often at odds with these frameworks. This book argues that in navigating this complex space, humanitarian actors rely less on the legal frameworks, and more on the relationships between the actors on the ground to achieve civilian protection. Whilst the frameworks help to act as a unifying narrative of appropriate behaviour, in practice, humanitarian practitioners are acting as unofficial brokers, continually translating the official frameworks in order to create a humanitarian fix that aligns with the often-divergent agendas of non-state armed actors. The research in this book is driven by rich ethnographic observations from the author's time working as an aid worker in northern Iraq and then later in Geneva, complemented by interviews with both fieldworkers and humanitarian policy makers and lawyers. Engaging and compelling, the book will be useful for researchers and students within humanitarian and development studies, and to practitioners and policy makers who are grappling with the contradictions this book explores"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.