Rebecca Sutton
Biographic Data
| ID | 191670 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Rebecca Sutton |
| GIVEN NAMES | Rebecca |
| FAMILY NAME | Sutton |
| SIGNATURE | SUTTON R |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Toronto |
| ORCID | 0009-0009-5240-7682 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 13 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 65 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 13 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1969 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
The Adult Gaze
Young people are often talked about as “the future,” with the dual implication that they will inherit the results of contemporary decision-making and direct policy-making once they reach adulthood. However, it is not only in the future that they will encounter, have to think about, suffer from, and develop expertise in conflict. Building on a growing body of work considering young voices in peace and conflict studies and their participation as fu…
The Identity Work of Journalists and Humanitarians in South Sudan’s Protection of Civilians Sites
This article interrogates the simplistic juxtaposition of protectors and protected in South Sudan's Protection of Civilians (PoC) sites, by asking: who was civilian in South Sudan, and how were civilians being protected? We present a civilian landscape that is much broader and more complex than the dominant PoC imaginary. Drawing attention to civilians who engage in professional tasks, the article considers the everyday practices of humanitarians…
Humanitarianism and affect-based education
For international lawyers seeking to promote compliance with international humanitarian law (IHL), some level of affective awareness is essential – but just where one might cultivate an understanding of emotions, and at which juncture of one's career, remains a mystery. This article proposes that what the IHL lawyers and advocates of the future need is an affect-based education. More than a simple mastery of a technical set of emotional intellige…
Empathy in frontline humanitarian negotiations
Humanitarian access—people’s ability to reach aid and aid's ability to reach people—is widely understood to be a central challenge in humanitarian action. One of the most important ways in which humanitarian access is practically secured in conflict settings is through frontline humanitarian negotiations. In this type of negotiation, humanitarians engage in face-to-face interactions with conflict parties to secure safe access to, and protection o…
Enacting the ‘civilian plus’
The civilian-combatant frame persists as the main legal lens through which lawyers organize the relationships of conflict zone actors. As a result, little attention has been paid in international legal scholarship to different gradations of ‘civilianness’ and the ways in which some civilians might compete to distinguish themselves from each other. Drawing attention to international humanitarian actors – particularly those working for NGOs – this …
The (self) protection of civilians in South Sudan
Over the past decade, a body of scholarship on civilian self-protection (CSP) has emerged, advancing understandings of civilian agency in war. In this article, we argue that CSP has been conceptualized in a narrow manner, reflecting the nascent status of the field. Scholars have focused on responses to threats directly related to the dynamics of conflict, physical in nature, and caused by the presence of armed groups. Using the case study of the …
The “Phantom Local” and the Everyday Distinction Practices of Humanitarian Actors in War
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 conce…
A Class Action on Behalf of Federally-Sentenced Women with Mental Health Issues
The inquiry into Ashley Smith's in-custody death is playing a crucial role in opening up the typically inscrutable prison system and forcing the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) to defend its policies and practices under intense public scrutiny.Yet there is a risk that Smith will be understood as an extreme outlier, rather than an indicator of a deeper problem.There remains a broader need for concrete and systemic reform of the prison system …
A Class Action on Behalf of Federally-Sentenced Women with Mental Health Issues
The inquiry into Ashley Smith’s in-custody death is playing a crucial role in opening up the typically inscrutable prison system and forcing the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) to defend its policies and practices under intense public scrutiny. Yet there is a risk that Smith will be understood as an extreme outlier, rather than an indicator of a deeper problem. There remains a broader need for concrete and systemic reform of the prison syste…
A Kafkaesque state
Deportation practices are commonly described through the lens of a ‘state of exception’, a condition where government assumes extra-judicial and near absolute authority over its subjects. Yet, within the contemporary deportation regime, we find examples of state fragmentation and resistance. Individual officials take decision-making power into their own hands, and deportable populations reassert control over their movement and their lives. Hence,…
Waiting in liminal space
Waiting is a common feature of everyday encounters between individuals and organisations. Government officials and private sector workers make us wait for decisions, wait for services and sometimes, simply wait our turn. Yet, little attention has been devoted to theorising and developing the concept of ‘waiting’, and it is noticeably absent in the literature on social organisations and organisational behaviour. In this article, we seek to add tex…
Chronic Illness Experiences, Clinical Markers and Living with Hepatitis C
This study explores the experiences of people with hepatitis C within two models of chronic illness-illness trajectory and shifting perspectives-and examines the effects of clinical markers of disease in relation to perceived health. The findings show some support for both models and suggest how they can be seen as complementary and inter-related. The social consequences of living with hepatitis C, such as potential social limitations and isolati…
There’s No Place Like a Refugee Camp? Urban Planning and Participation in the Camp Context
The past half-century of urban studies has demonstrated that the design of human settlements is a potent tool of governance. Active involvement in place shaping has also been shown to be a key empowerment mechanism for citizens and a strong means of creating cohesion in communities. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugee camps are a unique form of human habitation, temporary spaces created “between war and city.” Drawing from urban plann…
Waiting in liminal space
Waiting is a common feature of everyday encounters between individuals and organisations. Government officials and private sector workers make us wait for decisions, wait for services and sometimes, simply wait our turn. Yet, little attention has been devoted to theorising and developing the concept of ‘waiting’, and it is noticeably absent in the literature on social organisations and organisational behaviour. In this article, we seek to add tex…
A Kafkaesque state
Deportation practices are commonly described through the lens of a ‘state of exception’, a condition where government assumes extra-judicial and near absolute authority over its subjects. Yet, within the contemporary deportation regime, we find examples of state fragmentation and resistance. Individual officials take decision-making power into their own hands, and deportable populations reassert control over their movement and their lives. Hence,…
The “Phantom Local” and the Everyday Distinction Practices of Humanitarian Actors in War
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 conce…
The (self) protection of civilians in South Sudan
Over the past decade, a body of scholarship on civilian self-protection (CSP) has emerged, advancing understandings of civilian agency in war. In this article, we argue that CSP has been conceptualized in a narrow manner, reflecting the nascent status of the field. Scholars have focused on responses to threats directly related to the dynamics of conflict, physical in nature, and caused by the presence of armed groups. Using the case study of the …
Enacting the ‘civilian plus’
The civilian-combatant frame persists as the main legal lens through which lawyers organize the relationships of conflict zone actors. As a result, little attention has been paid in international legal scholarship to different gradations of ‘civilianness’ and the ways in which some civilians might compete to distinguish themselves from each other. Drawing attention to international humanitarian actors – particularly those working for NGOs – this …
There’s No Place Like a Refugee Camp? Urban Planning and Participation in the Camp Context
The past half-century of urban studies has demonstrated that the design of human settlements is a potent tool of governance. Active involvement in place shaping has also been shown to be a key empowerment mechanism for citizens and a strong means of creating cohesion in communities. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugee camps are a unique form of human habitation, temporary spaces created “between war and city.” Drawing from urban plann…
Chronic Illness Experiences, Clinical Markers and Living with Hepatitis C
This study explores the experiences of people with hepatitis C within two models of chronic illness-illness trajectory and shifting perspectives-and examines the effects of clinical markers of disease in relation to perceived health. The findings show some support for both models and suggest how they can be seen as complementary and inter-related. The social consequences of living with hepatitis C, such as potential social limitations and isolati…
There’s No Place Like a Refugee Camp? Urban Planning and Participation in the Camp Context
The past half-century of urban studies has demonstrated that the design of human settlements is a potent tool of governance. Active involvement in place shaping has also been shown to be a key empowerment mechanism for citizens and a strong means of creating cohesion in communities. Internally displaced persons (IDPs) and refugee camps are a unique form of human habitation, temporary spaces created “between war and city.” Drawing from urban plann…
Chronic Illness Experiences, Clinical Markers and Living with Hepatitis C
This study explores the experiences of people with hepatitis C within two models of chronic illness-illness trajectory and shifting perspectives-and examines the effects of clinical markers of disease in relation to perceived health. The findings show some support for both models and suggest how they can be seen as complementary and inter-related. The social consequences of living with hepatitis C, such as potential social limitations and isolati…
A Kafkaesque state
Deportation practices are commonly described through the lens of a ‘state of exception’, a condition where government assumes extra-judicial and near absolute authority over its subjects. Yet, within the contemporary deportation regime, we find examples of state fragmentation and resistance. Individual officials take decision-making power into their own hands, and deportable populations reassert control over their movement and their lives. Hence,…
Waiting in liminal space
Waiting is a common feature of everyday encounters between individuals and organisations. Government officials and private sector workers make us wait for decisions, wait for services and sometimes, simply wait our turn. Yet, little attention has been devoted to theorising and developing the concept of ‘waiting’, and it is noticeably absent in the literature on social organisations and organisational behaviour. In this article, we seek to add tex…
A Class Action on Behalf of Federally-Sentenced Women with Mental Health Issues
The inquiry into Ashley Smith's in-custody death is playing a crucial role in opening up the typically inscrutable prison system and forcing the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) to defend its policies and practices under intense public scrutiny.Yet there is a risk that Smith will be understood as an extreme outlier, rather than an indicator of a deeper problem.There remains a broader need for concrete and systemic reform of the prison system …
A Class Action on Behalf of Federally-Sentenced Women with Mental Health Issues
The inquiry into Ashley Smith’s in-custody death is playing a crucial role in opening up the typically inscrutable prison system and forcing the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) to defend its policies and practices under intense public scrutiny. Yet there is a risk that Smith will be understood as an extreme outlier, rather than an indicator of a deeper problem. There remains a broader need for concrete and systemic reform of the prison syste…
The “Phantom Local” and the Everyday Distinction Practices of Humanitarian Actors in War
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 conce…
Enacting the ‘civilian plus’
The civilian-combatant frame persists as the main legal lens through which lawyers organize the relationships of conflict zone actors. As a result, little attention has been paid in international legal scholarship to different gradations of ‘civilianness’ and the ways in which some civilians might compete to distinguish themselves from each other. Drawing attention to international humanitarian actors – particularly those working for NGOs – this …
The (self) protection of civilians in South Sudan
Over the past decade, a body of scholarship on civilian self-protection (CSP) has emerged, advancing understandings of civilian agency in war. In this article, we argue that CSP has been conceptualized in a narrow manner, reflecting the nascent status of the field. Scholars have focused on responses to threats directly related to the dynamics of conflict, physical in nature, and caused by the presence of armed groups. Using the case study of the …
Empathy in frontline humanitarian negotiations
Humanitarian access—people’s ability to reach aid and aid's ability to reach people—is widely understood to be a central challenge in humanitarian action. One of the most important ways in which humanitarian access is practically secured in conflict settings is through frontline humanitarian negotiations. In this type of negotiation, humanitarians engage in face-to-face interactions with conflict parties to secure safe access to, and protection o…
The Identity Work of Journalists and Humanitarians in South Sudan’s Protection of Civilians Sites
This article interrogates the simplistic juxtaposition of protectors and protected in South Sudan's Protection of Civilians (PoC) sites, by asking: who was civilian in South Sudan, and how were civilians being protected? We present a civilian landscape that is much broader and more complex than the dominant PoC imaginary. Drawing attention to civilians who engage in professional tasks, the article considers the everyday practices of humanitarians…
Humanitarianism and affect-based education
For international lawyers seeking to promote compliance with international humanitarian law (IHL), some level of affective awareness is essential – but just where one might cultivate an understanding of emotions, and at which juncture of one's career, remains a mystery. This article proposes that what the IHL lawyers and advocates of the future need is an affect-based education. More than a simple mastery of a technical set of emotional intellige…
The Adult Gaze
Young people are often talked about as “the future,” with the dual implication that they will inherit the results of contemporary decision-making and direct policy-making once they reach adulthood. However, it is not only in the future that they will encounter, have to think about, suffer from, and develop expertise in conflict. Building on a growing body of work considering young voices in peace and conflict studies and their participation as fu…
Political science (11 works) · Sociology (10 works) · Law (9 works) · Law (5 works) · Public relations (5 works) · Computer Science (4 works) · Criminology (4 works) · Peacebuilding and International Security (4 works) · Gender, Security, and Conflict (3 works) · Geography (3 works)