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Utilising a wide variety of perspectives and examining a range of contexts, the book considers how humanitarians assess and engage with authoritarian practices and negotiate access to populations in danger. Useful for students and practitioners with the fields of international politics and humanitarian studies.
List of contents
Introduction: Authoritarian practices and humanitarian negotiations 1. The friction of practice – reflecting on the Médecins Sans Frontières experience with ‘authoritarian regimes’ Commentary: Reflections on discourse 2. Humanitarian negotiation: Challenges and compromise in hard-to-reach areas Commentary: ‘Security reasons’ 3. The vocabulary of negotiations: Sovereignty and authoritarian arguments in the Security Council Commentary: A critique 4. The Xinjiang case and its implication for the rights debate in China: What role for NGOs and humanitarian negotiations? Commentary: A personal reflection on working in China 5. Daily negotiations with state agencies in the field – reflections from refugee camps in Western Ethiopia Commentary: Independence 6. Dilemmas of humanitarian negotiations with the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan Commentary: A brief critical reflection on Afghanistan 7. Roma structural discrimination in contemporary Russia: Institutions involved and measures (not) taken Commentary: Different types, different responses 8. Humanitarian apparatus of silence: Authoritarian denial and aid assemblage in Venezuela Commentary: Between instrumentalisation, depoliticisation, and legitimation of humanitarian action in Venezuela 9. Mopping up, keeping down, and propping up: Ethical dilemmas in humanitarian negotiations with authoritarian regimes Conclusion: Theory and praxis – constructing the relationship between authoritarian practices and humanitarian negotiations
About the author
Andrew J Cunningham has been in the aid business since the late 1980s and has spent 25 years with MSF. He has a PhD in War Studies from King’s College London, and his research focuses on INGO–State relations. Andrew works as a researcher, strategic evaluator, and governance advisor for various humanitarian organisations. His last book with Routledge was International Humanitarian NGOs and State Relations: Politics, Principles and Identity (2018). Andrew is also a board member of the International Humanitarian Studies Association.
Summary
Utilising a wide variety of perspectives and examining a range of contexts, the book considers how humanitarians assess and engage with authoritarian practices and negotiate access to populations in danger. Useful for students and practitioners with the fields of international politics and humanitarian studies.
