TY - BOOK AU - Fast,Larissa TI - Aid in Danger: The Perils and Promise of Humanitarianism T2 - Pennsylvania Studies in Human Rights SN - 9780812246032 AV - HV553 .F3717 2014 U1 - 361.2/6 23 PY - 2014///] CY - Philadelphia : PB - University of Pennsylvania Press, KW - Humanitarian assistance KW - Risk management KW - Security, International KW - Violence KW - Human Rights KW - POLITICAL SCIENCE / Human Rights KW - bisacsh KW - Law KW - Political Science N1 - Frontmatter --; Contents --; Introduction --; Chapter 1. Three Stories of Aid in Danger: From Baghdad and Muttur to Solferino --; Chapter 2. The Twin Challenges for Contemporary Humanitarianism --; Chapter 3. The Dangers They Face: Understanding Violence Against Aid Workers and Agencies --; Chapter 4. The Dominant Explanations: Competing Discourses of Aid --; Chapter 5. Explanations in the Shadows: Competing Images of Aid --; Chapter 6. Coping with Danger: Paradigms of Humanitarian Security Management --; Conclusion. Reclaiming Humanity --; Notes --; Bibliography --; Index --; Acknowledgments; restricted access; Issued also in print N2 - Humanitarian aid workers increasingly remain present in contexts of violence and are injured, kidnapped, and killed as a result. Since 9/11 and in response to these dangers, aid organizations have fortified themselves to shield their staff and programs from outside threats. In Aid in Danger, Larissa Fast critically examines the causes of violence against aid workers and the consequences of the approaches aid agencies use to protect themselves from attack.Based on more than a decade of research, Aid in Danger explores the assumptions underpinning existing explanations of and responses to violence against aid workers. According to Fast, most explanations of attacks locate the causes externally and maintain an image of aid workers as an exceptional category of civilians. The resulting approaches to security rely on separation and fortification and alienate aid workers from those in need, representing both a symptom and a cause of crisis in the humanitarian system. Missing from most analyses are the internal vulnerabilities, exemplified in the everyday decisions and ordinary human frailties and organizational mistakes that sometimes contribute to the conditions leading to violence. This oversight contributes to the normalization of danger in aid work and undermines the humanitarian ethos. As an alternative, Fast proposes a relational framework that captures both external threats and internal vulnerabilities. By uncovering overlooked causes of violence, Aid in Danger offers a unique perspective on the challenges of providing aid in perilous settings and on the prospects of reforming the system in service of core humanitarian values UR - https://doi.org/10.9783/9780812209631 UR - https://www.degruyter.com/isbn/9780812209631 UR - https://www.degruyter.com/cover/covers/9780812209631.jpg ER -