The ultimate goal of the Hydra is genocide.
“It is not power that corrupts but fear.” –Aung San Suu Kyi, Nobel Peace Prize recipient and defender of Myanmar’s genocidal actions This is an important week This week there is a Brexit vote in the UK and impeachment hearings against President Trump in the US. These two events are consequential, to be sure, but perhaps no more so than what will be happening in the Netherlands. Brought up on charges of committing genocide by The Gambia, Myanmar goes on trail in front of the International Court of Justice. Heavy, somber, and immensely powerful words, those. In anticipation of the hearing in The Hague, I spent part of this afternoon reading the 46 page document outlining Gambia’s case against Myanmar for the genocide against the Rohingya. It begins, “In accordance with Articles 36(1) and 40 of the Statute of the Court and Article 38 of the Rules of Court, I have…
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FollowThe gaping hole in the Hydra model: religious persecution
[Updated 1 Feb 2020] Religion is arguably one of the most egregious ‘othering’ forces that has ever existed. All through recorded history people have been marginalized -and in countless cases murdered- because they were of the ‘wrong’ religion.” “The normal and the stigmatized are not persons, but perspectives.” -E. Goffman, Stigma, 1963 Prologue As I write this, Myanmar’s Daw Aung San Suu Kyi and her team are preparing to respond to formal charges of genocide against the Muslim Rohingya at the International Court of Justice at the Hague. The world will be watching these proceedings, and we as a global community must continue demanding justice be served and the dignity of all humans is defended. Review and context In a previous post I talked about both ascribed and achieved statuses, how these are tied to the process of othering, and the inevitability that this process leads to the rise of various ‘privileging forces’,…
Read MoreHumanitarian principles and intersectionality
[Updated and edited on 27 January 2020] All human lives have equal worth Humanitarian principles, however broadly defined, begin with the assertion that all human lives have equal worth. Given that premise, our challenge is to understand the social forces which are a threat to that assumption and frequently lead to humanitarian crises. In previous posts (see here and here) I discuss how the process of ‘othering’ is universal, and throughout history has inexorably lead to the entrenchment and ossification of many ‘privileging forces’ that continue to have massive impact on all global cultures and, necessarily, impact the functioning of the humanitarian ecosystem. I argue that fighting each of these privileging forces individually may seem both necessary and logical, but that to be most effective we must, metaphorically, fight the body of the Hydra, i.e., the process of othering itself. Othering fuels the Hydra’s body and thus all of its…
Read MorePrivileging forces
“…humanitarian action is top-down, externally driven, and relatively rigid process that allows little space for local participation beyond formalistic consultation. Much of what happens escapes local scrutiny and control. The system is viewed as inflexible, arrogant, and culturally insensitive. This is sometimes exacerbated by inappropriate personal behavior, conspicuous consumption, and other manifestations of the ‘white car syndrome.’ Never far from the surface are the perceptions that the aid system does not deliver on expectations and is ‘corrupted’ by the long chain of intermediaries between distant capitals and would-be beneficiaries.” (p. 187) “Humanitarianism started off as a powerful discourse; now it is a discourse of power, both at the international and at the community level.” (p. 190) –Antonio Donini “Humanitarianism, Perceptions, and Power” in In the Eyes of Others (Abu Sada, editor; 2012) Privileging forces Background Earlier this month I was honored to be among the 200+ gathered in Berlin…
Read MoreThe relevance question
Warning: This is a long read at 3900 words and with numerous hyperlinks. “It seems obvious that relevance should be a basic test of humanitarian assistance. If people don’t receive what they really need in a crisis, something is going wrong.” —Sophia Swithern, Background paper for #alnap32 The relevance question Thoughts on being a more ‘relevant’ as a humanitarian worker Being a humanitarian worker frequently involves navigating between many cultures all while responding to the needs of people experiencing some form of extreme crisis. It is tough work, in part because dealing with ‘other’ people demands intellectual and emotional effort focused on the critical goal of maintaining relevance. Critical questions related to relevance include: Are my actions appropriate, ethical, and addressing the real needs of the affected communities? Are the actions of my organization appropriate, ethical, and addressing the real needs of the affected communities? Are the actions of the…
Read MoreBringing sandwiches to the gates of Auschwitz
“The humanitarian imperative for me, I don’t want to use a cliché, but it’s really simple in my head: you’re damned if you do and you’re damned if you don’t. That’s it.” -30 something female humanitarian Bringing sandwiches to the gates of Auschwitz Brooding about the humanitarian imperative I recently re-read Samantha Power’s book Chasing the Flame, again drinking in every word as she chronicles in deep and sensitive detail the life, and death, of UN humanitarian diplomat Sergio Vierira de Mello. The complete title of Power’s book is “Chasing the Flame: Sergio Vieira de Mello and the Fight to Save the World.” Spoiler alert: he doesn’t. Likely because of my recent research on humanitarian workers, and, in the last several months, into the lives of ‘refugee humanitarians‘, Rohingya women and men living in Cox’s Bazar, I was struck by a phrase Power’s used, a quote from a long-ago published NY Times…
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