Surviving Violence: Transgressing Categories and Boundaries in Armed Conflicts

Since the early 1990s, activities intended for the protection of civilians have been steadily incorporated into humanitarian, peacekeeping, and development operations across the globe. Yet, what was initially perceived as a progressive step in the advancement of human security (Goldberg and Hubert 2001) is now coming under increasing scrutiny (Fox 2002; Thakur 2002). The civilian protection agenda involves a series of inter-related activities designed to prevent, mitigate, respond to, and recover from physical harm caused by armed conflict. Despite the steady elaboration and execution of this agenda, however, critics point to key challenges including the lack of compliance by states and non-state armed actors (Ferris 2011), problems with coordination and efficiency among aid organizations (Barnett 2009), under-resourced peacekeeping operations with limited training and equipment (Williams 2013), and the lack of capacity and will on the part of the ‘international community’ (Barr 2010).