Humanitarianism: A Dictionary of Concepts

ISBN-13: 9781857432817 / Angielski / Twarda / 2017 / 366 str.

Tim Allen

Opis

A Dictionary of Humanitarianism brings together leading experts, including many of the critical writers whose work led to the establishment of humanitarian studies in the first place. The field of humanitarianism is profoundly characterised by uncertainty, by a constant need to respond with authority to the unpredictable. As such, this title serves as a key resource for all those grappling with the tensions and dilemmas of humanitarian action. In the open-source, largely digital culture that characterises contemporary humanitarianism, a dictionary that simply listed publically available descriptive information has relatively little added value. Instead, what is scarce, and therefore valuable, in contemporary humanitarian debates is authoritative analysis, particularly analysis that attempts to (re)define, rather than merely problematize, the issues at stake. This analysis is provided by A Dictionary of Humanitarianism. A series of concise 5,000 word essays on key topics review recent debates and set out a clear argument about how each topic should now best be understood and defined. A selection of 3,000 word case studies adopt a similar approach. As such, A Dictionary of Humanitarianism not only serves as a valuable introduction to the work of key figures in the literature, but also represents a toolkit for those attempting to get to grips with the life-and-death problems humanitarians face on the ground every day. Critical interrogation of the purpose and practice of humanitarian action has yielded a rich new field of enquiry, humanitarian studies, and many thoughtful books, articles and reports. Now, A Dictionary of Humanitarianism provides a tour dhorizon of the current state of the art.

O autorze

Tim Allen is a Professor of Development Anthropology, Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences, and Director of the Firoz Lalji Centre for Africa at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).　He works at the intersections of accountability, criminal justice, social healing, health care, international development and humanitarian assistance. He has conducted research on the Uganda/South Sudan border since the 1980s as well as on Botswana, Tanzania, Kenya and Ghana. Much of his work has focused on issues of humanitarian crisis, including mass forced displacement, armed conflict and the ways in which populations manage in extreme circumstances. In 2016 he launched the Centre for Public Authority in International Development, which explores how families, clans, religious leaders, aid agencies, civil society, rebel militia and vigilante groups contribute to governance, along with formal and semi-formal government institutions. Anna Macdonald is a Research Fellow in the International Development Department at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). Her research focuses on the politics of transitional justice and humanitarian intervention, and ideas about law and social order in Central Africa.　 Henry Radice is a Research Fellow at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), based on the Conflict Research Programme in the Department of International Development. His work delineates the category of humanitarianism within international political theory, exploring the ethics and politics of humanitarian action and focusing on key notions such as common humanity, human suffering, rescue, solidarity and internationalism. He holds a PhD in International Relations from the LSE.