Authoritarian Practices and Humanitarian Negotiations

Andrew J Cunningham

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2023
• Print ISBN: 9781032327570
• eBook ISBN: 9781003810155
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Politics & International Relations
• Subtopic: International Relations
• Index: Politics & International Relations

This book examines authoritarian practices in relation to humanitarian negotiations. 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.

Chapters provide insights at the macro, meso, and micro levels through case studies on the international and domestic legal and political framing of humanitarian contexts (Xinjiang, Afghanistan, Venezuela, Russia, and Syria), as well as the actual practice of negotiating with authoritarian regimes (Ethiopia). A theoretical grounding is provided through chapters elaborating on the ethics and trust-building dimensions of humanitarian negotiations, and an overview chapter provides a theoretical framework through which to analyse humanitarian negotiations against the backdrop of different types of authoritarian practices.

This book provides a wide-ranging view which broadens the frame of reference when considering how humanitarians view and engage with authoritarian practices. The objective is to both put these contexts into conceptual order and provide a firm theoretical basis for understanding the politics of humanitarian negotiations in such difficult contexts. This book is useful for those studying international politics and humanitarian studies, as well as for practitioners seeking to better systematise their humanitarian negotiations.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Endorsement Page
• Half Title Page
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Table of Contents
• List of contributors
• Preface
• Introduction: Authoritarian practices and humanitarian negotiations
• 1 The friction of practice – reflecting on the Médecins Sans Frontières experience with ‘authoritarian regimes’
• 2 Humanitarian negotiation: Challenges and compromise in hard-to-reach areas
• 3 The vocabulary of negotiations: Sovereignty and authoritarian arguments in the Security Council
• 4 The Xinjiang case and its implication for the rights debate in China: What role for NGOs and humanitarian negotiations?
• 5 Daily negotiations with state agencies in the field – reflections from refugee camps in Western Ethiopia
• 6 Dilemmas of humanitarian negotiations with the rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan
• 7 Roma structural discrimination in contemporary Russia: Institutions involved and measures (not) taken
• 8 Humanitarian apparatus of silence: Authoritarian denial and aid assemblage 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
• Index