Knowledge and Power

A Critique of an International Relief Operation

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4956464
AutoresBarbara Hendrie (University College London, autor de correspondencia)
Año1997
Volumen21
Número1
Páginas57-76
Fecha de publicación1997-03-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaDisasters (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0361-3666 • E-ISSN: 1467-7717
EditorialWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/1467-7717.00044
PMID9086634
OpenAlexW2058056074
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas11

Exploring an alternative way to approach famine relief interventions, this paper draws on the work of French philosopher Michel Foucault and David Keen's recent work on south-west Sudan. It suggests that different discourses on 'famine' can lead to the dominance of certain kinds of institutional practices, and the prioritisation of special kinds of knowledge, at the expense of other modes of understanding and action. Using the case of the relief operation to Tigrayan refugees in eastern Sudan in 1984/5, the paper examines the specific ways in which 'power' was elaborated in the midst of the operation, and the manner in which institutional practices - designed to save as many lives as possible - influenced the reaction of international agencies to the spontaneous repatriation of the Tigrayans back to Ethiopia

Dominance (genetics · Famine · Medical emergency · Political science · Power (physics · Refugee · Relief Work · Repatriation · Sociology · Work (physics · Engineering · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · Human Rights and Development · Law · Medicine · Peacebuilding and International Security