Course outline

This course aims to provide students with a knowledgeable and critical understanding of current key themes and debates in the social sciences concerning humanitarian emergencies. You will investigate some of the big issues in humanitarianism today, and explore how humanitarian interventions have been manipulated or instrumentalised by nations to achieve their own ends – thereby compromising the core humanitarian principlesof humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence.

Humanitarian work is growing ever more complex, as there are many failing or failed states. Since the ‘war on terror’ era began after 9.11.2001, there have been those who have argued that this provides evidence of the clash of civilisations between a Christian West and other blocks, notably the Islamic states – is such a theory flawed? The United States has assumed a role as a global policeman, and there have been invasions of Afghanistan and of Iraq – have these events hastened the decline of the West and the rise of the Rest? Nation-building interventions have been tried and frequently have failed – why is this?

In order to understand complex humanitarian emergencies we need to look into what anthropology can offer – is the motivation primarily greed or grievance? There are many victims of conflicts, not least child soldiers, and we will examine the problems of their reintegration into society.