The rationality of resistance: alternatives for engagement in complex emergencies

The different conceptualisations of conflict in the complex emergency literature have profound implications on the perception of the agency of different groups and the prospects for conflict management. While much recent analysis has focused on the rational political and economic functions of violence, relatively little analysis has focused on why the majority of people chose not to resort to violence. Using Foucault's analysis of power relations, a new framework for conflict analysis is proposed which includes non-violent resistance as well as violence as a means of domination. Non-violent resistance is explored as a rational, highly adaptable response to acts of domination. A comprehensive understanding of conflict must recognise local forms of resistance and identify the barriers and opportunities for the engagement of the international humanitarian community with these groups. This engagement can be used to foster capacities for the creation of legitimate, inclusive, non-violent political and economic processes in the attempt to provide alternatives for everyone in the conflict. If the purpose of the study of complex emergencies is to understand the nature of various conflicts and, based on that understanding, make recommendations for possible routes to conflict management, the analysis of local resistance and efforts to foster it must become a major aspect of the research agenda.     

Social capital and the political economy of violence: a case study of Sri Lanka

This article examines the links between militarised violence and social capital (trans)formation. It first maps out emerging theoretical and policy debates on social capital and violent conflict and questions a number of the assumptions underpinning these debates. This is followed by an empirical analysis of several war-affected communities in Sri Lanka. The case studies illustrate that the links between militarised violence and social capital are complex, dynamic and context specific. It is argued that social capital cannot be understood in isolation from political and economic processes, and the belief that violent conflict inevitably erodes social capital is questioned. Finally, the implications for external agencies are highlighted. Rather than focusing on engineering social capital, external agencies need to focus on understanding better the preconditions for social capital formation and how they can contribute to the creation of an enabling environment. This requires as a starting-point a rigorous analysis of political and economic processes.     

Violence and complex humanitarian emergencies: implications for livelihoods models

This paper explores the nature of the violence that characterises complex humanitarian emergencies and the related implications for modelling livelihoods systems. While noting the importance of livelihoods approaches in complex humanitarian emergencies, it deliberates the limitations of sustainable livelihoods frameworks when applied in environments marked by protracted instability. Adaptations to the model are discussed, with a particular focus on the relationships among violence, assets and liabilities within livelihoods systems. Political economy of violence theories intimate that the assets on which livelihoods systems are constructed in peaceful times may instead become life-and livelihood-threatening liabilities in periods of conflict. Adaptations to livelihood systems in violent settings require that analysts consider violence from policy, institutional and process perspectives. It is suggested that vulnerability should be re-conceptualised as endogenous to livelihoods systems in violent settings. Building on the work of others, a livelihoods model adapted for complex humanitarian emergencies is presented.     

Between war and peace: humanitarian assistance in violent urban settings

Cities are fast becoming new territories of violence. 1 The humanitarian consequences of many criminally violent urban settings are comparable to those of more traditional wars, yet despite the intensity of the needs, humanitarian aid to such settings is limited. The way in which humanitarian needs are typically defined, fails to address the problems of these contexts, the suffering they produce and the populations affected. Distinctions between formal armed conflicts, regulated by international humanitarian law, and other violent settings, as well as those between emergency and developmental assistance, can lead to the neglect of populations in distress. It can take a lot of time and effort to access vulnerable communities and implement programmes in urban settings, but experience shows that it is possible to provide humanitarian assistance with a significant focus on the direct and indirect health consequences of violence outside a traditional conflict setting. This paper considers the situation of Port‐au‐Prince (Haiti), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) and Guatemala City (Guatemala).     

Pastoral and environmental security in East Africa

The most vulnerable people in Third World countries are often accused of destroying forests and fragile ecosystems and of practising destructive forms of agriculture and animal husbandry. The key to environmental sustainability, however, lies in more reliable production and food security at the local level. This article focuses on individual and household security amongst dryland herders in East Africa. The most crucial aspect of pastoral viability is the maintenance of a balance between family herd and size of household. Risk-spreading, through dependence on relatives, the borrowing of animals, redistribution through marriage etc. is a general principle of social behaviour amongst these peoples. Consideration of local-level security, furthermore, reveals the connection between ecological stress and political conflict. Only by establishing secure access to food for individuals and families can sustainable development and political security, not only at the local but also at the national and international levels, be achieved.     

What happens to the state in conflict?: political analysis as a tool for planning humanitarian assistance

It is now part of received wisdom that humanitarian assistance in conflict and post-conflict situations may be ineffective or even counterproductive in the absence of an informed understanding of the broader political context in which so-called 'complex political emergencies' (CPEs) occur. Though recognising that specific cases have to be understood in their own terms, this article offers a framework for incorporating political analysis in policy design. It is based on a programme of research on a number of countries in Africa and Asia over the last four years. It argues that the starting-point should be an analysis of crises of authority within contemporary nation-states which convert conflict (a feature of all political systems) into violent conflict; of how such conflict may in turn generate more problems for, or even destroy, the state; of the deep-rooted political, institutional and developmental legacies of political violence; and of the difficulties that complicate the restoration of legitimate and effective systems of governance after the 'termination' of conflict. It then lists a series of questions which such an analysis would need to ask--less in order to provide a comprehensive check-list than to uncover underlying political processes and links. It is hoped these may be used not only to understand the political dynamics of emergencies, but also to identify what kinds of policy action should and should not be given priority by practitioners.     

Guatemala: violence in peacetime--a critical analysis of the armed conflict and the peace process

The recent history of Guatemala is interpreted here using an interdisciplinary approach inspired by recent development and conflict studies. The author reflects on his experience in peace-building activities and uses a combination of primary and secondary sources to present the Guatemalan war as a complex political emergency. The first part (a methodological introduction) proposes an analytical framework, taking into account both the root causes and the different functions of violence, in order to achieve a better understanding of contemporary conflicts. In the second and central part of the article, the integrated framework is applied to Guatemala, trying to understand causes and functions of war and negotiation and underlining the existence of structural obstacles to a lasting peace. The conclusions are dedicated to policy implications: if the signing of peace accords represents only a step towards negative peace, the condition for a lasting peace is a strategy for reconciliation and development based on social participation and social justice.     

Responding to security threats: livelihoods under protracted conflict in Sri Lanka

Populations affected by violent conflicts often withstand threats to their security as well as threats to their livelihoods. Their response to the former threats nontrivially affects their response to the latter threats, and vice versa. This paper examines the interplay between protection and livelihood strategies using a sample of households selected from the Anuradhapura district of Sri Lanka. The fieldwork for this study was completed in 2008, producing evidence that the protection and livelihood strategies employed by households affected by the protracted conflict in Sri Lanka are interlaced. In addition, the research discovered that Muslim and Sinhalese households largely responded to the protracted conflict in ways that are unique to their ethnic group. Certain vulnerabilities that impinge on protection and certain opportunities that support livelihoods are shown to be ethnicised. Hence, the final livelihood outcome, which is defined narrowly here as the household's income, also appears to be ethnicised.     

The Symphony of the Damned: Racial Discourse, Complex Political Emergencies and Humanitarian Aid

This paper concerns the manner in which the West is responding to protracted political crises beyond its borders. It examines the conceptual world-view that aid agencies bring to complex emergencies and which shapes action. The paper provides an analysis of developmentalism. That is, the currently dominant idea of development which is an adapted form of multiculturalism. It is based on the empowerment of cultural differences and the relativisation of progress. As a variant of multiculturalism, developmentalism is part of Western racial discourse. In terms of understanding conflict, it establishes a mirror-image relationship with new rascist ideas premised on cultural pluralism inevitably leading to social breakdown, violence and anarchy. To the contrary, with its functional view of social harmony, libertine developmentalism claims that even unresolved political crisis constitutes a development opportunity.
Developmentalism, like culturalism generally, is incapable of analysing power. It therefore cannot understand the effects and significance of its own organisational forms. Moreover, since the absence of power translates into operational neutrality in a war zone, it is also unable to analyse the nature of new political formations emerging in the global periphery. That is, the so-called weak or failed states, warlords and so on. This functional ignorance has allowed a widespread incorporation of humanitarian aid into the fabric of political violence. Developmentalism is an essential underpinning for the growing organisational accommodation to ongoing conflict and eroding standards of justice and accountability.     

Risk,vulnerability, and pragmatic inevitability: the conflict–disaster nexus and urban governance in Johannesburg,South Africa

This paper spotlights post-disaster relief provision in Johannesburg, South Africa, following the floods of 2016 in a bid to explore how local government and non-governmental actors in the country conceive of compounding vulnerability and conflict within urban disaster governance. It reveals the diverse strategies employed to navigate violent conflict during the cyclical occurrence of disaster and reconstruction that the predominantly migrant population experiences in the Setswetla informal settlement, adjacent to the Alexandra township in northern Johannesburg. Rendered visible in moments of disaster and recovery are the spatial politics and multidimensional nature of conflict. These phenomena unfold across various levels of urban governance and in the affected community and effectively construct a disaster citizenship that makes risk reduction and community cohesion impossible in the eyes of disaster managers. This research, based on a set of expert interviews, integrates conflict and disaster studies to shed light on how the conflict–disaster interface materialises, and is operationalised, in an urban setting.     

Adapting to climate change in the coastal regions of Bangladesh: proposal for the formation of community-based adaptation committees

The paper outlines a concept and proposal for the formation of ‘community based adaptation committees’ (CBACs) at the micro-level, and it explains how such local committees would act with respect to the existing organisation of disaster management in Bangladesh. It examines how the CBACs would be sustained locally without colliding with the present system of government. The main objective of this is to identify how the CBACs could act independently as per local demands, without any conflict with the existing system, in order to ensure sustainable adaptation in future. To achieve these objectives the author conducted interviews with key informants at both local and national levels, and also conducted eight participatory rapid appraisal sessions at eight coastal communities. The author finds that severe corruption is impeding the existing system of relief and rehabilitation at community levels. The paper emphasises that the government of Bangladesh urgently needs to formulate a national adaptation policy, and that within that policy the concept of CBACs at community level should be prioritised. This would provide the government with guidelines for the use, at community level, of adaptation funds from developed countries in order to reduce future vulnerability in Bangladesh.     

Still falling short: protection and partnerships in the Lebanon emergency response

The Israeli–Hezbollah conflict in the summer of 2006, although brief, had a lasting impact on the region and prompted an intense humanitarian response. The conflict raised challenging questions for the United Nations (UN) about how to assist a middle‐income yet extremely vulnerable population in a context where global and local relations are highly politicised. This paper focuses on two key questions that emerged from the humanitarian response. First, how can humanitarian agencies, and particularly the UN, improve the protection of civilians, and was what they did in Lebanon enough? Second, how can humanitarian agencies create partnerships with local actors and still remain true to core humanitarian principles when local actors are fiercely divided along confessional lines and influenced by external actors, and when some, such as Hezbollah, are parties to the conflict? This paper argues that despite the importance of protection and partnerships to the humanitarian response, their role in the UN emergency response still falls short.     

Reducing post-disaster conflict: a cross-cultural test of four hypotheses using archaeological data

Four hypotheses concerning the relationship between climate-related disasters and conflict are tested using archaeological data in a controlled cross-cultural comparison. The four hypotheses are (1) Conflict increases following climate-related disasters because local economic conditions deprive polities of tax revenue so that they can no longer suppress conflict; (2) Conflict increases following climate-related disasters because existing social inequalities lead to conflicts over differential access to resources; (3) Conflict increases following climate-related disasters because migration forces population into condensed settlements ripe for conflict; and (4) Conflict increases following climate-related disasters in polities where leaders tightly control access to political authority because leaders may use violence to maintain control over the resources they use to secure support from other elites. Only the fourth hypothesis is supported. It is argued that understanding pre-disaster political strategies is key to understanding post-disaster conflict.     

Burma: The Political Economy of Violence

Protracted conflict and violence in Burma have been conducive to the growth of the opium industry, Burma's single financial success in recent years of economic crisis and authoritarian rule. This in turn has fed violence and subsequent humanitarian crisis. This paper argues that the underlying political economy of the conflict has been overlooked, while conflict itself has been treated as a peripheral factor in questions of 'development', and further that the opium dynamic is a vital factor in continued violence and vulnerability for non-combatants in the region. A political economy approach, identifying the beneficiaries of violence, will offer a more holistic and effective approach to the protracted crisis.     

Characteristics, context and risk: NGO insecurity in conflict zones

This paper reports on research conducted on the insecurity of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) between 1999 and 2002, with the goal of contributing to the debate on the reasons why NGO actors are targets of violence in conflict settings. The research involved the collection of data from three countries-Angola, Ecuador and Sierra Leone-and exploration of the relationship between levels of insecurity, context and the characteristics of NGOs. Four risk factors appear to heighten the degree of insecurity that NGOs face: (1) carrying out multiple types of activities and providing material aid; (2)'operationality'(that is, implementing programmes and activities); (3) working with both sides of the conflict; and (4) integrating into the local community. The paper discusses the methodological approach adopted for the research, the differences between ambient and situational insecurity and the findings related to risk factors. It concludes with a summary of the study's implications.     

Invisible institutions in emergencies: Evacuating the remote Indigenous community of Warruwi,Northern Territory Australia,from Cyclone Monica

Tropical Cyclone Monica is one of the most intense Australian cyclones in recorded history, and threatened several Indigenous communities in April 2006. It prompted the evacuation of the remote island community of Warruwi, and caused considerable damage to the mainland township of Maningrida. The evacuation of Warruwi went smoothly as emergency services personnel, the community and the airline cooperated to airlift some 350 people to designated safe areas on the mainland. We show that local institutions culturally embedded in Indigenous ways of understanding and responding to the world were important in providing essential but ‘unofficial’ services during the emergency. Recognizing and respecting the resilience of the local process involved in everyday Indigenous life is revealed as central to ensuring local cooperation and effective involvement of state and national institutions in delivering effective measures during emergencies. Ensuring that local, state and national authorities offer recognition and understanding of these Indigenous institutions, and develop strong relationships with them, should be a priority in developing approaches that limit conflict and trauma where emergency services risk overriding local protocol.     

Working with states to build competence in disaster response

This paper examines the relationship between national disaster response authorities and the international humanitarian community through case studies in three countries where it is generally agreed that good working relations exist. It seeks to understand the common phenomena which led to those good relations. The paper takes as its premise that the international humanitarian aid community, bruised by its experience in non-functioning and predatory states, has developed an unhelpful aversion to cooperation with, and working through, local government. It posits that in a future with climate change, disasters will be more frequent and this requires a necessary shift, on the part of international agencies and local government from seeing disaster response as exceptional and interventionist to viewing it as a standard part of sovereign duty and normalcy. The study highlights a number of common features across the three case studies which shed light on why disaster response has been transformed in the study countries.     

Conflict resilience among community forestry user groups: experiences in Nepal

This paper explores the impact of violent conflict in Nepal on the functioning of community forestry user groups (CFUGs), particularly those supported by the Livelihoods and Forestry Programme, funded by the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID). The key questions are: (i) what explains the resilience of CFUGs operating at the time of conflict?; (ii) what institutional arrangements and strategies allowed them to continue working under conflict conditions?; and (iii) what lessons can be drawn for donor‐supported development around the world? The study contributes to other research on the everyday experiences of residents of Nepal living in a period of conflict. It suggests that CFUG resilience was the result of the institutional set up of community forestry and the employment of various tactics by the CFUGs. While the institutional design of community forestry (structure) was very important for resilience, it was the ability of the CFUGs to support and use it effectively that was the determining factor in this regard.     

The analytical framework of water and armed conflict: a focus on the 2006 Summer War between Israel and Lebanon

This paper develops an analytical framework to investigate the relationship between water and armed conflict, and applies it to the ‘Summer War’ of 2006 between Israel and Lebanon (Hezbollah). The framework broadens and deepens existing classifications by assessing the impact of acts of war as indiscriminate or targeted, and evaluating them in terms of international norms and law, in particular International Humanitarian Law (IHL). In the case at hand, the relationship is characterised by extensive damage in Lebanon to drinking water infrastructure and resources. This is seen as a clear violation of the letter and the spirit of IHL, while the partial destruction of more than 50 public water towers compromises water rights and national development goals. The absence of pre‐war environmental baselines makes it difficult to gauge the impact on water resources, suggesting a role for those with first‐hand knowledge of the hostilities to develop a more effective response before, during, and after armed conflict.