Humanitarianism and the Quantification of Human Needs

Humanitarianism and the Quantification of Human Needs PDF Author: Joël Glasman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000762599
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 270

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Book Description
This book provides a historical inquiry into the quantification of needs in humanitarian assistance. Needs are increasingly seen as the lowest common denominator of humanity. Standard definitions of basic needs, however, set a minimalist version of humanity – both in the sense that they are narrow in what they compare, and that they set a low bar for satisfaction. The book argues that we cannot understand humanitarian governance if we do not understand how humanitarian agencies made human suffering commensurable across borders in the first place. The book identifies four basic elements of needs: As a concept, as a system of classification and triage, as a material apparatus, and as a set of standards. Drawing on a range of archival sources, including the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), and the Sphere Project, the book traces the concept of needs from its emergence in the 1960s right through to the present day, and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s call for “evidence-based humanitarianism.” Finally, the book assesses how the international governmentality of needs has played out in a recent humanitarian crisis, drawing on field research on Central African refugees in the Cameroonian borderland in 2014–2016. This important historical inquiry into the universal nature of human suffering will be an important read for humanitarian researchers and practitioners, as well as readers with an interest in international history and development.

Humanitarianism and the Quantification of Human Needs

Humanitarianism and the Quantification of Human Needs PDF Author: Joël Glasman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000762599
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 270

Get Book Here

Book Description
This book provides a historical inquiry into the quantification of needs in humanitarian assistance. Needs are increasingly seen as the lowest common denominator of humanity. Standard definitions of basic needs, however, set a minimalist version of humanity – both in the sense that they are narrow in what they compare, and that they set a low bar for satisfaction. The book argues that we cannot understand humanitarian governance if we do not understand how humanitarian agencies made human suffering commensurable across borders in the first place. The book identifies four basic elements of needs: As a concept, as a system of classification and triage, as a material apparatus, and as a set of standards. Drawing on a range of archival sources, including the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), and the Sphere Project, the book traces the concept of needs from its emergence in the 1960s right through to the present day, and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s call for “evidence-based humanitarianism.” Finally, the book assesses how the international governmentality of needs has played out in a recent humanitarian crisis, drawing on field research on Central African refugees in the Cameroonian borderland in 2014–2016. This important historical inquiry into the universal nature of human suffering will be an important read for humanitarian researchers and practitioners, as well as readers with an interest in international history and development.

Humanitarianism and the Quantification of Human Needs

Humanitarianism and the Quantification of Human Needs PDF Author: Joël Glasman
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1000762238
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 275

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Book Description
This book provides a historical inquiry into the quantification of needs in humanitarian assistance. Needs are increasingly seen as the lowest common denominator of humanity. Standard definitions of basic needs, however, set a minimalist version of humanity – both in the sense that they are narrow in what they compare, and that they set a low bar for satisfaction. The book argues that we cannot understand humanitarian governance if we do not understand how humanitarian agencies made human suffering commensurable across borders in the first place. The book identifies four basic elements of needs: As a concept, as a system of classification and triage, as a material apparatus, and as a set of standards. Drawing on a range of archival sources, including the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), and the Sphere Project, the book traces the concept of needs from its emergence in the 1960s right through to the present day, and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s call for “evidence-based humanitarianism.” Finally, the book assesses how the international governmentality of needs has played out in a recent humanitarian crisis, drawing on field research on Central African refugees in the Cameroonian borderland in 2014–2016. This important historical inquiry into the universal nature of human suffering will be an important read for humanitarian researchers and practitioners, as well as readers with an interest in international history and development. The Introduction, Conclusion, and Chapers 1, 4, 5, and 6 of this book are freely available as downloadable Open Access PDFs at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC-BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

The Seductions of Quantification

The Seductions of Quantification PDF Author: Sally Engle Merry
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022626131X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 260

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Book Description
We live in a world where seemingly everything can be measured. We rely on indicators to translate social phenomena into simple, quantified terms, which in turn can be used to guide individuals, organizations, and governments in establishing policy. Yet counting things requires finding a way to make them comparable. And in the process of translating the confusion of social life into neat categories, we inevitably strip it of context and meaning—and risk hiding or distorting as much as we reveal. With The Seductions of Quantification, leading legal anthropologist Sally Engle Merry investigates the techniques by which information is gathered and analyzed in the production of global indicators on human rights, gender violence, and sex trafficking. Although such numbers convey an aura of objective truth and scientific validity, Merry argues persuasively that measurement systems constitute a form of power by incorporating theories about social change in their design but rarely explicitly acknowledging them. For instance, the US State Department’s Trafficking in Persons Report, which ranks countries in terms of their compliance with antitrafficking activities, assumes that prosecuting traffickers as criminals is an effective corrective strategy—overlooking cultures where women and children are frequently sold by their own families. As Merry shows, indicators are indeed seductive in their promise of providing concrete knowledge about how the world works, but they are implemented most successfully when paired with context-rich qualitative accounts grounded in local knowledge.

Digital Humanitarians

Digital Humanitarians PDF Author: Patrick Meier
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040083803
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
The overflow of information generated during disasters can be as paralyzing to humanitarian response as the lack of information. This flash flood of information‘social media, satellite imagery and more is often referred to as Big Data. Making sense of this data deluge during disasters is proving an impossible challenge for traditional humanitarian

The Rise and Decline of a Global Security Actor

The Rise and Decline of a Global Security Actor PDF Author: Anne Hammerstad
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199213089
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 369

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Book Description
The Rise and Decline of a Global Security Actor investigates the rise of the UNHCR as a global security actor and follows the refugee agency through some of the past two decades' major conflict-induced humanitarian emergencies, including Afghanistan, Bosnia, Iraq, Kosovo, and Zaire/Congo.

Complex Emergencies

Complex Emergencies PDF Author: David Keen
Publisher: Polity
ISBN: 0745640192
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 305

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Book Description
Analysing the abusive systems that surround and produce humanitarian disasters, this text gives particular attention to the economic, political and psychological functions of civil conflicts and humanitarian disasters.

Humanitarian Logistics

Humanitarian Logistics PDF Author: R. Tomasini
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 0230233481
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 188

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Book Description
Imagine planning an event like the Olympics. Now imagine planning the same event but not knowing when or where it will take place, or how many will attend. This is what humanitarian logisticians are up against. Oversights result in serious consequences for the victims of disasters. So they have to get it right, fast.

Climate Extremes and Their Implications for Impact and Risk Assessment

Climate Extremes and Their Implications for Impact and Risk Assessment PDF Author: Jana Sillmann
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 0128148950
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 378

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Book Description
Climate extremes often imply significant impacts on human and natural systems, and these extreme events are anticipated to be among the potentially most harmful consequences of a changing climate. However, while extreme event impacts are increasingly recognized, methodologies to address such impacts and the degree of our understanding and prediction capabilities vary widely among different sectors and disciplines. Moreover, traditional climate extreme indices and large-scale multi-model intercomparisons that are used for future projections of extreme events and associated impacts often fall short in capturing the full complexity of impact systems. Climate Extremes and Their Implications for Impact and Risk Assessment describes challenges, opportunities and methodologies for the analysis of the impacts of climate extremes across various sectors to support their impact and risk assessment. It thereby also facilitates cross-sectoral and cross-disciplinary discussions and exchange among climate and impact scientists. The sectors covered include agriculture, terrestrial ecosystems, human health, transport, conflict, and more broadly covering the human-environment nexus. The book concludes with an outlook on the need for more transdisciplinary work and international collaboration between scientists and practitioners to address emergent risks and extreme events towards risk reduction and strengthened societal resilience.

Humanitarianism: Keywords

Humanitarianism: Keywords PDF Author:
Publisher: BRILL
ISBN: 9004431144
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 262

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Book Description
Humanitarianism: Keywords is a comprehensive dictionary designed as a compass for navigating the conceptual universe of humanitarianism. It is an intuitive toolkit to map contemporary humanitarianism and to explore its current and future articulations. The dictionary serves a broad readership of practitioners, students, and researchers by providing informed access to the extensive humanitarian vocabulary.

The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis

The Anatomy of a Silent Crisis PDF Author: Global Humanitarian Forum
Publisher: Global Humanitarian Forum
ISBN: 2839905531
Category : Climatic changes
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description