Paper details

Paper authors	Elba Rahmouni
In panel on	Rethinking Violence in Humanitarian Research
Paper presenter(s) will be presenting	In-Person / Online

Abstract

We question what differentiates or brings social scientists and humanitarian workers together when they develop knowledge about situations of violence.

In the face of risk, the search of information is an obligation for relief organizations and a professional practice for social scientists. Is the distance between these types of actors a necessary routine? Or, on the contrary, do connections between them bring benefits in terms of knowledge, of “non-reductive objectivation” and resistance to partial lucidity?

These questions are based on social sciences field works issued from a book we recently edited*. Several investigations are presented in this book: they concern humanitarian interventions and contexts of violence in Syria and in the east of DRC.

We will also look at some positive experiences in relation to knowledge on violence, where humanitarians have avoided the pitfalls of generalities and clichés regarding this topic. But how did they do it? This is not self-evident.

*Violences extrêmes. Enquêter, secourir, juger. République démocratique du Congo, Rwanda, Syrie edited by Laëtitia Atlani-Duault, Jean-Hervé Bradol, Marc Le Pape and Claudine Vidal. Paris, FMSH Éditions, 2021

Jean-Hervé Bradol, Director of Studies at CRASH (Centre de réflexion sur l'action et les savoirs humanitaires), MSF
Marc Le Pape, sociologist CNRS, IMAF (Institut des mondes africains) ; CRASH scientific committee
Claudine Vidal, sociologist CNRS, IMAF (Institut des mondes africains) ; CRASH scientific committee

Contact: mlepape@ehess.fr

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