Companion to Humanitarian Action

The Companion on Humanitarian Action addresses the political, ethical, legal and practical issues which influence reactions to humanitarian crisis. It does so by exploring the daily dilemmas faced by a range of actors, including policy makers, aid workers, the private sector and the beneficiaries of aid and by challenging common perceptions regarding humanitarian crisis and the policies put in place to address these. Through such explorations, it provides practitioners and scholars with the knowledge needed to both understand and improve upon current forms of humanitarian action.
The Companion will be of use to those interested a range of humanitarian programmes ranging from emergency medical assistance, military interventions, managing refugee flows and the implementation of international humanitarian law. As opposed to addressing specific programmes, it will explore five themes seen as relevant to understanding and engaging in all modes of humanitarian action. The first section explores varying interpretations of humanitarianism, including critical historical and political-economic explanations as well as more practice based explorations focused on notions needs assessments and evaluation. Following this, readers will be exposed to the latest debates on a range of humanitarian principles including neutrality and sovereignty, before exploring the key issues faced by the main actors involved in humanitarian crisis (from international NGOs to local community based organizations). The final two sections address what are seen as key dilemmas in regards to humanitarian action and emerging trends in the humanitarian system, including the increasing role of social media in responding to crises.
Whilst not a ‘how to guide’, the Companion contains many practical insights for policy makers and aid workers, whilst also offering analytical insights for students of humanitarian action. Indeed, throughout the book, readers will come to the realization that understanding and improving humanitarian action simultaneously requires both active critical reflection and an acceptance of the urgency and timeliness of action that is required for humanitarian assistance to have an impact on vital human needs. Exploring a sector that is far from homogenous, both practitioners and scholars alike will find the contributions of this book offers them a deeper understanding of the motivations and mechanics of current interventions, but also insight into current changes and progress occurring in the field of humanitarian practice.

Roger Mac Ginty is a Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies at the Humanitarian & Conflict Response Institute, and the Department of Politics, University of Manchester. He has extensive editorial experience including three edited books, four special issues of journals, and a book series ‘Rethinking Political Violence’. With his colleague Oliver Richmond he is establishing a Taylor and Francis journal calledPeacebuilding. He has published about forty journal articles and two monographs:No War, No Peace: The rejuvenation of stalled peace processes and peace accords (2006) andInternational Peacebuilding and Local Resistance: Hybrid forms of peace (2011). His co-authored books areGuns and Government: The management of the Northern Ireland peace process (2003) andConflict and Development (2009).

Jenny Peterson is a Lecturer of Political Science at the University of British Columbia. She has recently published inInternational Studies Quarterly (2013), Journal of Peacebuilding and Development (2013) andDisasters (2010) Her first monograph entitled Building a Peace Economy: Liberal Peacebuilding and the Development Security Industry (2014) is also now available. She has acted as a reviewer for journals includingDemocratization and Millennium and is currently completing a co-edited volume on Violence in Latin America.