The 'phantom local' and the everyday distinction practices of humanitarian actors in war : a socio-legal perspective
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0739-3148; 1469-9931
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New political science, 2018, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 640-657
[IOW]
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SUTTON, Rebecca, The ‘phantom local’ and the everyday distinction practices of humanitarian actors in war : a socio-legal perspective, New political science, 2018, Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 640-657, [IOW] - https://hdl.handle.net/1814/60941
Abstract
This article is concerned the everyday practices of international humanitarian actors who deliver assistance in armed conflict zones. Drawing on original fieldwork conducted in South Sudan, it elucidates how humanitarian actors engage with the principle of distinction in international humanitarian law (IHL). The article considers how the desire to enforce distinction impacts humanitarian actors’ relationships with others, and introduces the concept of everyday distinction practices. These practices have an important performance component, designed to appease the “phantom local.” It is proposed that such practices may have adverse implications for the humanitarian– beneficiary encounter. By positioning war-affected populations as an audience for distinction, everyday distinction practices reconfigure the victims of war from being receivers of aid to perceivers of aid. By lumping beneficiaries together with armed actors as part of the “phantom local,” distinction practices also paint the victims of war as an object of mistrust, fear, and potential danger.
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Published online: 27 Oct 2018
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European Commission, 340956
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The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Research Council under the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013) / ERC Grant Agreement No 340956 - IOW - The Individualisation of War: Reconfiguring the Ethics, Law, and Politics of Armed Conflict.