Humanitarian technologies of trust

Bibliographic Data

ID4380204
AuthorsJ Billaud (0000-0002-3205-7111, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume41
Issue2
Pages33-50
Publication date2023-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueThe Cambridge Journal of Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0305-7674 • E-ISSN: 2047-7716
PublisherBerghahn Books (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.3167/cja.2023.410204
OpenAlexW4386865151
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited15

What is trust, and how is it established in humanitarian operations? Why do humanitarians consider trust a vital resource in their work? Building on the International Committee of the Red Cross' response to urban violence and the anthropological literature that conceives trust both as a modern social virtue and a technology of power, I examine the ways in which trust is enacted and practiced in humanitarian settings. While the organisation's legalistic logic has traditionally led to a conceptualisation of trust as the end result of a 'moral contract' rooted in the Geneva Conventions and operationalised through 'confidential dialogue' and face-to-face interactions, more recent concerns for accountability have surprisingly led to the establishment of technocratic procedures where trustworthiness is achieved through the emptying out of social relations

Accountability · Confidentiality · Environmental ethics · Law and economics · Political science · Politics · Public relations · Social science · Sociology · Technocracy · African Studies and Geopolitics · Law · Migration, Identity, and Health · Water Governance and Infrastructure

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