Constructing Rights and Wrongs in Humanitarian Action

Contributions from a Sociology of Praxis

Bibliographic Data

ID2322347
AuthorsD Hilhorst (0000-0003-2280-6833, WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY, THE NETHERLANDS), Bram J Jansen (0000-0002-5405-259X, WAGENINGEN UNIVERSITY, THE NETHERLANDS)
Year2012
Volume46
Issue5
Pages891-905
Publication date2012-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueSociology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0038-0385 • E-ISSN: 1469-8684
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0038038512452357
OpenAlexW2159967739
LanguageEN
Citations received21
References cited37

Human rights entered the language and practice of humanitarian aid in the mid-1990s, and since then they have worked in parallel, complemented or competed with traditional frameworks ordering humanitarianism, including humanitarian principles, refugee law, and inter-agency standards. This article positions the study of rights within a sociology of praxis. It starts from a premise that interpretation and realisation of international norms depends on actors' social negotiation. We seek to contribute to the sociology of rights with insights from legal pluralism and to analyse human rights as a semi-autonomous field in a multiplicity of normative frameworks. Based on cumulative research into humanitarian aid in disaster response, refugee care and protracted crises, the article explores how humanitarian agencies evoke different normative frameworks to legitimate their presence and programmes. How aid is shaped through the 'rights speak' of aid workers and recipients alike is illuminated by cases of programmes promoting women's rights against sexual abuse from Kenya and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC

Dignity · Epistemology · Human rights · Humanitarian aid · Political science · Praxis · Premise · Refugee · Sociology · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Peacebuilding and International Security

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