1st Edition

The Routledge Companion to Humanitarian Action

By Roger Mac Ginty, Jenny H Peterson Copyright 2015
    488 Pages
    by Routledge

    486 Pages
    by Routledge

    The Companion on Humanitarian Action addresses the political, ethical, legal and practical issues which influence reactions to humanitarian crisis. It does so by exploring the daily dilemmas faced by a range of actors, including policy makers, aid workers, the private sector and the beneficiaries of aid and by challenging common perceptions regarding humanitarian crisis and the policies put in place to address these.    Through such explorations, it provides practitioners and scholars with the knowledge needed to both understand and improve upon current forms of humanitarian action. 
     The Companion will be of use to those interested a range of humanitarian programmes ranging from emergency medical assistance,  military interventions, managing refugee flows and the implementation of international humanitarian law.  As opposed to addressing specific programmes, it will explore five themes seen as relevant to understanding and engaging in all modes of humanitarian action.  The first section explores varying interpretations of humanitarianism, including critical historical and political-economic explanations as well as more practice based explorations focused on notions needs assessments and evaluation.  Following this, readers will be exposed to the latest debates on a range of humanitarian principles including neutrality and sovereignty, before exploring the key issues faced by the main actors involved in  humanitarian crisis (from international  NGOs to local community based organizations). The final two sections address what are seen as key dilemmas in regards to humanitarian action and emerging trends in the humanitarian system, including the increasing role of social media in responding to crises.
     Whilst not a ‘how to guide’, the Companion contains many practical insights for policy makers and aid workers, whilst also offering analytical insights for students of hu

    Introduction  Jenny H Peterson



    Interpretations



    1 Wonderful work: globalizing the ethics of humanitarian action Hugo Slim  2 From protection to disaster resilience Mark Duffield  3 Critical readings of humanitarianism Ryerson Christie  4 Gender analyses Dyan Mazurana and Keith Proctor  5 Humanitarian history? Bertrand Taithe  6 Humanitarian motivations Travis Nelson



    Principles



    7 Neutrality and impartiality Laura Hammond  8 Universal rights and individual freedoms David Chandler  9 The principle of ‘First Do No Harm’ David N Gibbs  10 Legitimacy Michael Aaronson  11 Altruism Judith Lichtenberg  12 Humanitarian space Francois Audet  13 The Responsibility to Protect Alex J Bellamy



    Actors



    14 The United Nations Thomas G Weiss  15 The Red Cross and Red Crescent Mukesh Kapila  16 Regional humanitarian organizations Susanna Campbell and Stephanie Hofmann  17 ‘Non DAC’ humanitarian actors Emma Mawdsley  18 Military and humanitarian actors Karsten Friis  19 Private military and security companies Andrea Schneiker and Jutta Joachim  20 The private sector and humanitarian action Alastair McKechnie  21 News media and communication technology Piers Robinson  22 National NGOs Gëzim Visoka  23 The religious field Jonathan Benthall  24 Medical NGOs Johan von Schreeb  25 Refugees and internally displaced persons Phil Orchard



    Dilemmas



    26 Securitization and threats to humanitarian workers Larissa Fast  27 Non state armed groups and aid organizations Michiel Hofman  28 Dealing with authoritarian regimes Oliver Walto

    Biography

    Roger Mac Ginty is Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the Humanitarian & Conflict Response Institute, and the Department of Politics, University of Manchester, UK. He has extensive editorial experience including three edited books, four special issues of journals and a book series ‘Rethinking Political Violence’. With his colleague Oliver Richmond he has established a Taylor & Francis journal titled Peacebuilding. He has published approximately 40 journal articles and two monographs: No War, No Peace: The Rejuvenation of Stalled Peace Processes and Peace Accords (2006) and International Peacebuilding and Local Resistance: Hybrid Forms of Peace (2011). His co-authored books are Guns and Government: The Management of the Northern Ireland Peace Process (2003) and Conflict and Development (2009).





    Jenny H Peterson is a Lecturer of Political Science at the University of British Columbia, Canada. She has recently published in International Studies Quarterly (2013), Journal of Peacebuilding and Development (2013) and Disasters (2010). Her first monograph Building a Peace Economy: Liberal Peacebuilding and the Development Security Industry (2014) is also now available.