Paper details

Paper authors	Janine Bressmer
In panel on	Negotiating Humanitarian Access in Violent Conflict
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online

Abstract

Over the past two decades, humanitarian action has arguably experienced a shift in terms of its conceptualization and physical manifestations on the ground. Debates over a shrinking ‘humanitarian space’ levy accusations against an increasingly dangerous environment in which aid is not given the physical space to operate and humanitarian principles are not respected. Rather than siding in this argument, it can be said that the environment in which humanitarian organizations operate, characterized by warfare and violent non-conflict settings, has generated an environment in which humanitarian organizations work reactively vis-à-vis the security and risk implications on the ground. Changes in the humanitarian discourse and norms, practices such as remote- and risk-management and the separation of aid workers and beneficiary through material and space provide an interesting entry point through which to better understand some of the spatial considerations attached to delivering aid. As part of a larger project, this paper seeks to lay the groundwork for examining how discursive security processes in specific humanitarian organizations link to spatial practices in negotiating and delivering aid in contexts of protracted crisis. Negotiating access in settings experiencing violence and how each organization reacts to their environment hold important implications for the future of humanitarian aid.

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