The State We Are(n’t) In

“The State we are(n’t) in: Liminal subjectivity in aid worker autobiographies,” chapter in Berit Bliesemann de Guevara (ed.) Statebuilding and State-Formation: The Political Sociology of Intervention, London: Routledge, 2012, pp.230-245.

 

Amongst the many problems attributed to international statebuilding, the mismatch between ‘the international’ and ‘the local’ is high on the agenda. How to ‘bridge’ the so-called local-international divide (Donais 2009) or how to balance top-down with bottom-up approaches (Mac Ginty 2010) are familiar debates. However, these categories are not without problems. Where does the local end and the international begin? What of hybrid cultures and practices? What is striking is the persistence of the categories themselves within statebuilding discourse and even amongst critical theorists: despite the recognition that the categories of local/international are unhelpful and potentially deleterious to attempts to improve statebuilding, they continue to be used and remain the dominant way of understanding and theorising statebuilding activity (Heathershaw 2008; Pouligny 2010; Richmond 2009).

It is the tenacity of this conceptual apparatus, and in particular the persistence and implications of the category of the so-called international, that are under investigation in this chapter, which focuses on the production and dominance of this distinction – both conceptually and practically.  I argue that the persistence of these categories can only be understood through an examination of international statebuilding practice in ‘the field’, as it is through these practices and their accompanying spaces (the offices, compounds, workshops, projects) that the categories of local and international are (re)produced despite rhetorical attempts to move beyond them. Using three examples of humanitarian memoirs (Cain 2004; Minion 2004; Olson 1999) to provide insight into various aspects of statebuilding (humanitarian assistance, peacekeeping missions, elections, reconciliation, judicial reform) from the perspective of the so-called international, I identify a structural process which drives and helps explain the persistence of the international and the local in international statebuilding.

Drawing on the work of Victor Turner (1969, 1975, 1977) and Arnold van Gennep (1960), the chapter suggests that the process of going to the field is a highly structured, codified, and predicable ‘rite of passage’ and the act of being in the field, as a statebuilder (and an aid worker more broadly), creates a unique and liminal space (van Gennep 1960). The processual and structured experience of going ‘to the field’ has very little to do with ‘the local’ but rather is focussed almost exclusively on ‘the international’. This analysis suggests that the embodied, practical aspects of international assistance in the context of statebuilding are a key contributing factor to the persistence of conceptual and actually-existing divides which are at the heart of processes of state-formation as defined in this volume.

 

Statebuilding as (International) ‘Rite of Passage’

Van Gennep describes a rite of passage as a tripartite process consisting of, first, separation from an initial or equilibrium state, followed by a liminal or marginal state, and concluding by a reaggregation (or re-incorporation) with the original society (Bowie 2006). Each stage has its own set of accompanying rites (van Gennep 1960). Of the three stages, the liminal is distinct from the other two and involves spatial, temporal, social and moral separation (Yang 2000). In contrast to ‘normal society’, the liminal state is a one of anti-structure, where established hierarchies and rules are inverted or suspended and transformative processes take place. Here, work and play blur, experimentation and novelty are encouraged, and carnivalesque and ludic qualities manifest (Turner 1977). The initiates are considered as simultaneously sacred and polluting to society at large and must be kept separate and distinct: confined to designated spaces and identifiable by new or bizarre clothes, masks, or face paints and possibly made to adopt new homogenising behaviours or languages. Stripped of their previously defining characteristics such as clothes, insignia, or property they may form strong and rapid bonds of solidarity with the other initiates (Turner 1969: 95). Such ties of friendship or communitas often endure throughout life (Turner 1977). Once the transformation is complete, the initiate may return to society, to be reintegrated in his/her new role. In the following, I will first give a brief overview of the memoirs looked at in this study and discuss their representativeness, before interpreting them in more detail in the light of the ‘rite of passage’ literature.

 

Brief Overview of Each of the Memoirs

In Cruel Paradise (CP; Olson 1999), Leanne, a nurse from Canada, receives an offer to work for Medécins sans Frontières (MSF). She is deployed to run a feeding centre in rural Liberia during the first Liberian civil war. After being evacuated back to Winnipeg nine months later, due to increased hostilities, she is almost immediately redeployed to Bosnia where she meets Rink, a logistics officer with whom she starts a romantic relationship. Based in the Republika Srpska, their team is responsible for providing non-partisan medical supplies to hard to reach areas such as the infamous Bihać enclave. After being evacuated again, in June 1995 (after seven months) she rejoins Rink in Burundi, where she is in charge of renovating and managing a 70 bed hospital in the north of the country. Dissatisfied with the MSF programme in Burundi, she and Rink hand in their resignations after only three months to join their friend working in Goma, Zaire (now DRC), ‘where nobody in their right mind wants to work’ (Olson 1999: 153). In mid-may they leave Zaire, fearing for their lives. After a brief time in Canada, France and Holland, they join the international medical NGO Merlin and are deployed to a series of countries as short-term consultants: Rwanda, Angola, Albania, and finally Liberia. After coming full circle, they return to Holland to resume (in their words) normal life. The narrative spans from December 1993 to May 1997 (three and a half years).

In Emergency Sex (ES; Cain 2004), three interweaving narratives tell the stories of Andrew, an Australian doctor; Ken, an American law student come human rights advisor; and Heidi, an American social worker come UN secretary come elections monitor come jack of all trades. They meet on their first mission, in 1993, in Cambodia. After overseeing the country’s first democratic elections they immediately depart for new missions. Heidi and Ken go to Mogadishu (‘the dish’), Somalia, as part of the UN Peacekeeping Mission, Operation Restore Hope, while Andrew goes to Haiti with UNMIH to document human rights violations in prisons and hospitals. After the UN (and US) withdrawals from both Somalia and Haiti in early 1994, the authors rotate missions once again. Ken takes an assignment in Rwanda, collecting evidence on the genocide for the UN Criminal Tribunal in Rwanda (ICTR); Heidi joins the next UN mission in Haiti; and Andrew goes to Bihać in Bosnia-Herzegovina to ‘set up a forensic team to investigate massacres’ (Cain 2004: 223). Unable to work due to continued fighting, Andrew is almost immediately redeployed to Rwanda to collect forensic evidence by exhuming mass graves. Ken leaves Rwanda to meet Heidi in Haiti. Heidi, in turn, has fallen in love with a Haitian man and plans to stay in Haiti when the UN mission leaves. But in November 1998, her partner dies in an accident and she returns to New York to start her life ‘anew’ (Cain 2004: 295). Ken takes his last mission in Liberia documenting human rights abuses in the middle of the first Liberian war. From 1999, they all return to New York. Andrew gets married to another expat aid worker and decides to move to live in Cambodia.

In the case of Cruel Paradise and Emergency Sex the characters had several tours or postings whereas the third book, Hello Missus (HM; Minion 2004), documents two subsequent missions in East Timor by the Australian freelance journalist, Lynne Minion. Lynne arrives in East Timor just prior to the official hand over of the new country’s administration from the UN transitional administration, UNTAET. Although she has no job, she does have one powerful acquaintance: the then Foreign Affairs Minister and Nobel Laureate, Jose Ramos-Horta, who helps her get a job working as a UN advisor to the local TV station. After East Timor receives its independence in May 2002, she is offered a job as media advisor to the then Prime Minister, Dr. Mari Alkatiri. But her contract takes a long time to finalise, leaving Lynne to occupy herself with a series of unsuitable romantic liaisons, moving from house to house in an effort to find sanctuary. When her contract finally comes through, she is given neither a job description nor a place to work; crammed behind a child’s school desk in the lobby of the perpetually absent ‘Prime Miniature’ (as she calls him)’s office. Stonewalled, and eventually sacked from her advisory position due to her affiliations with Ramos-Horta, she is preparing to depart when the December 2002 riots break out. Following the riots, she decides to return home for good, although not before initiating yet another relationship with a peacekeeper, this time a Serb. The book ends with Lynne flying up and out of Dili, her ‘capacity built’.^[1]

To ensure a wide range of coverage and balance, the texts were chosen for analysis based on several criteria.^[2] The authors represent a cross section of organisations: both United Nations and international non-governmental organisations (INGOs) on a variety of scales (big and small). The three narratives span the full spectrum of so-called statebuilding activity: from the sectarian humanitarian aid that would lay the foundations of the future of the former Yugoslav Republics of Serbia, Bosnia Herzegovina and Croatia to the spate of UN missions in the 1990s (Cambodia, Somalia, Haiti) to the post-independence support to the newly independent nation of East Timor. The protagonists are both men and women, and all the authors use their real names and claim that their stories are based on real events. The time period ranges from 1991 to 2004 – 13 years in total – and, though short, nonetheless captures the ‘long decade’ of increased multilateral activity following the fall of the Berlin Wall. While the choice of these novels as the subject of analysis can be critiqued on the basis that they, through their very existence as a personal post-mortem, are biased in an ‘anti-aid’ direction, they are nonetheless valid for the significant population that they represent.^[3] They are also some of the most readable and best-known examples of a much wider genre of aid memoirs that, to date, has received minimal critical attention. Equally, the books analysed in this chapter are also some of the most controversial of the genre. I learned about two of them (Cain 2004; Minion 2004) whilst in ‘the field’ where the books and their authors were regarded with a mix of disdain and jealousy. The books were madly read, circulated, and then dismissed not on the grounds that they were untrue, or misrepresentative, but that they broke the code of the field.

 

The Rite of Passage in the Memoirs of Aid Workers

Within the experience of statebuilding, an important structural divide exists between the physical space of headquarters, which are physically located in a (usually) First World location and the location that is being assisted in the field (see also Schlichte and Veit in this volume). The historical structure of international aid is such that traditional donor countries are primarily located in the Global North. The field by contrast, is where the projects or interventions are located – where the state is being built. While headquarters define policy, the objective of their policy can only be reached by undertaking a physical voyage to the space of the beneficiaries: the field. The three books in question all have a narrative structure that details this processual experience and simultaneously replicates a rite of passage. The characters all have a sudden departure to far off lands in an attempt to escape unstable, boring, and/or unfulfilling lives. An unsteady (but pleasantly exciting) beginning is followed by a steady descent into increasing political, personal, and institutional chaos. The characters become exhausted and frustrated with their persistent inability to have a significant or positive impact on their surroundings. They reach a crisis point where the characters feel the need to make a decision regarding their future, at which point all but one of them choose to return to the First World (not necessarily home) to resume so-called normal life and to write their memoirs. In the case of one of the books – Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures – the chapters are named according to increasing levels of UN security classifications moving from Condition Alpha (safe) to Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo (evacuate immediately)…and finally Return to Normal (Cain 2004). This emphasises both the anchoring effect of the ‘home country’ in terms of the trajectory and also the framing of the series of ‘local’ experiences of the field in terms of international concepts.

 

Rites of Separation: Leaving ‘Home’

According to Turner (1969: 94) the separation phase ‘comprises symbolic behaviour signifying the detachment of the individual or group either from an earlier fixed point in the social structure, from a set of cultural conditions (a “state”) or both.’ In all the memoirs studied, clearly identifiable rites of separation take place. The pre-departure state is characterised by a frustration with the inauthenticity or superficiality of the authors’ own western culture. In ES the characters are openly dissatisfied with the perceived amorality of western society and bored with a normal existence. When presented with the chance to leave, they jump at it. In both ES and CP the departures are whirlwind, rapid and unexpected. In Ken’s case (ES), after a 15 minute interview with a human rights organisation he is told that he has a week to ‘get shots, a visa, and on the plane’ (Cain 2004: 33).

The inoculation of the aid worker against the unknown of the field is a common theme and includes the vaccination of the aid worker against fabulous, rare, and potentially deadly tropical diseases, often without consideration for the real risk of coming into contact with, for example, rabid monkeys. Prophylactics are taken. Packing is done, often in a hurried and badly conceived manner. For example, Lynne, after a boozy going away lunch, packs bikinis, frocks, hipster slacks, and a tiara: ‘just because I’d be living in a Third World country I didn’t have to look as though I was living in a Third World country’ (Minion 2004: 3). MSF HQ warns Leanne about the impact of stress such as drinking, risk taking behaviour, and mood swings: ‘[w]e were also warned about the dangers of beginning relationships between the national and expat teams, primarily because in case of an evacuation, only the expat staff leaves, and bringing the national staff along is out of the question’ (Olson 1999: 13-14).

The narrators admit an almost complete lack of knowledge about where they are going, or even where the missions are located. ‘To say that I was a bit naïve when I first started working as an international relief worker would be an understatement of monumental proportions! I knew nothing,’ said Leanne (Olson 1999: 9). ‘I was probably the only Canadian who didn’t really have a clue about what was happening in Bosnia…’ (Olson 1999: 77). Similarly, in ES Heidi signed up for the UN mission as a secretary, ‘without a second thought, didn’t even know where Cambodia was’ (Cain 2004: 29), while Ken admits to having thought about Somalia exactly once before landing there (Cain 2004: 109). The field is romanticised, compared with Hollywood movies (The Killing Fields) or the Discovery Channel (Cain 2004: 30). Admiring the idea of living in a war zone, Ken says ‘[t]here are none of the subtleties and nuances of ordinary life; you’re at the core of every feeling…And that’s how I want to feel’ (Cain 2004: 13). These passages emphasise the role of affect and imagination, which underpins both their decisions to leave, and their initial preparations. Such fantastic or clichéd understandings are normal and expected when beginning a new experience, but in the context of a rite of passage, they will fail to be challenged.

The transition from one stage of a rite of passage to the next requires traversing a threshold. This may be, quite literally, a passageway, a stairway, or a door through which initiates must pass and is itself the quintessential liminal place. While in the threshold, initiates are suspended between two states: neither here, nor there. These transition states are often guarded by gatekeepers who determine who is allowed to enter into the next phase. The sacred status of the aid worker is communicated through dress (for example, the uniform of the MSF t-shirt, the ‘Smurf blue’ of UN peacekeepers). This makes the uniforms attractive to expats and locals alike, as they confer a degree of inviolability to the wearer. As liminal, sacred, and inviolable beings, the aid workers are allowed to pass through border zones that would, without the blue passport and the international law that it represents, be off limits. The characters are clear as to the symbolic significance of these thresholds. Ken, leaving Mogadishu, says ‘[w]e deplane and walk together across the tarmac, the UN has a special landing field in Nairobi just for us. But when I leave their company and cross the threshold of the main terminal alone, I’m a regular civilian again, a tourist’ (Cain 2004: 199). This emphasises the hold and almost magical power that the space of the field has over its international inhabitants.

 

The Liminal Space of the Field

Once the characters have crossed the threshold, they pass into ‘a cultural realm that has few or none of the attributes of the past or coming state’ (Turner 1969: 94). They are amazed at how the degree to which the new countries differ from their previous situations: extreme poverty, razed buildings, all alongside the comparative luxury of the international community. Says Lynne upon first meeting members of the international community in Dili, ‘these humanitarians have eclipsed my most affluent fantasies’ (Minion 2004: 15). Badly or inappropriately attired in the clothes/attitudes from a former life, they quickly make an effort to assimilate – in Heidi and Ken’s cases more in keeping with the international jet set aesthetic of the UN; in Lynne’s case more in keeping with what her third space patron, Ramos-Horta, feels is appropriate. Taken literally, this shedding of clothing corresponds to Turner’s description of the liminal state (Turner 1969: 103). By creating a tabula rasa the neophyte’s or initiate’s individuality is erased and she or he becomes part of the larger group of expats. Leanne joyfully exclaims after five months in Liberia, ‘I felt like a real expat. I was an actual relief worker, and I was loving it’ (Olson 1999: 47). Describing her experience in Cambodia, says Heidi, ‘[w]e’re foreign and free and obnoxious and have dollars, so stay out of our way. We’re immortal and nothing can touch us’ (Cain 2004: 76). These types of behaviours emphasise the strong social boundary formation that occurs amongst internationals in ‘the field’ and point to the open acceptance of views that would not be accepted in their home countries, and that they would certainly not say aloud, and likely not even espouse.

The freedom to express such views is attributable in part to the close-knit living situations which lead to the formation of rapid and close bonds with their expat co-workers: ‘[h]as it been six months already? Already? I love these people. I don’t even want to think about saying goodbye’ (Olson 1999: 68). Within the space of ‘us’ of the expat community, privacy is at a premium, and ‘there was no such thing as a personal private relationship’ (Olson 1999: 51); everything is shared, including bathrooms (Cain 2004: 213). Speaking of the situation in Banja Luka, Olson says, ‘[w]e have our little community here of MSF, ICRC and UNHCR, so it’s nice to be back in my little family again’ (Olson 1999: 108). This space also presents the opportunity to remake oneself in ways that would not be possible within their normal societies. Lives prior to the field are downplayed and previously important markers like ‘career or money or…social class, the currency of social intercourse at Harvard’ disappear (Cain 2004: 15). Among the expats, distinctions of race or background fade away.

For some of the initiates this is shocking. One Bangladeshi UN worker is horrified by the lack of funeral rights for Muslims in the field (Cain 2004: 73). In all the memoirs, drugs and alcohol play a prominent role and are frequently mentioned as a tool that gets them through the horrors they face. As a group they are separated from their previous lives through distance, both physical and emotional, and from their immediate surroundings. They are separated from their families and friends ‘at home’ by a ‘distance of experiences, of time, of tragedy’ (Olson 1999: 9-10). Their inability to speak the local languages also creates a barrier between them and the local population, and security concerns (ostensibly) precipitate the maintenance of physical barriers.

While Leanne insists that ‘[n]othing about this kind of work is typical’ (Olson 1999: 10), it is this unpredictability that structures the novels and characterises its authors’ experiences. The bizarre, the heterotopic, the unpredictable, the anachronistic, and the politically incorrect are recurrent themes. All the characters express their amazement at the dreamlike or surreal quality of their life and work conditions in the field. Part of this is attributable to the places where they work, war zones, refugee camps, prisons, but also because they are witness to violent events while remaining untouched and outside of the structures that created these events. Leanne often speaks of being ‘in a dream’ or ‘on holiday’ (Olson 1999: 110) while Ken insists that ‘none of this is real’ (Cain 2004: 132). They often use imaginary nicknames to refer to their situations, for example Blue Lagoon for Banja Luka.

In contrast with their previous lives, the spaces of work and play blend into one. In Cambodia, parties at Ken and Heidi’s house become a place to exchange information on the political situation in the country. Conversely, their spaces of work become the places in which they celebrate. Leanne describes the unreal experience of spending New Year’s Eve on the frontline of a war, wearing ‘bulletproofs and drinking champagne to the sounds of shelling a few hundred meters away’ (Olson 1999: 102). This feeling of unreality lends itself to ludic, verging on bacchanalian activity. Exclaims Ken,

 

[w]e’re on the roof of our mansion in the middle of Indochina, no parents, no boss. Everything everyone does is funny and perfect…we’re young and immortal and together and drunk and stupid and in Cambodia.

(Cain 2004: 37)

While not ascetic in the way sometimes described by Turner (1969: 106), by engaging in bacchanalian and politically incorrect behaviour, the laws of western society (as the characters know them) are suspended. Heidi, normally socially conscious and anti-elitist, goes to the beach in Cambodia with her fellow UN secretaries to float

in inner tubes in the steamy waters of the Gulf of Thailand. We signal to the waiters, who wade out to us fully clothed, carrying trays of beer and cigarettes already lit…We decide this must be what it’s like to be rich, to be entitled.

(Cain 2004: 76)

While in their normal lives she would condemn conspicuous consumption, here she partakes.

Part of the significance of such activities is that they occur in places that are simultaneously ‘cutting edge, dangerous, lonely, urgent’ (Olson 1999: 175). In this context, experimentation, trickery and ignoring laws of normal society become the norm. Working on human rights law Ken muses, ‘I’m not actually a licensed “lawyer” in the US, but who’s splitting hairs about that in Cambodia?’ (Cain 2004: 32). Similarly, Leanne comes to accept that if one were to play by the rules of normal society, nothing would get done. She ‘learned to lie with impunity, cheat, steal, negotiate with and manipulate anyone, to beg, borrow, stretch facts…We developed quite a ruthless reputation but, considering the circumstances, one could say that necessity drove us to it’ (Olson 1999: 118). What ‘drove them to it’ seems to have been the juxtaposition of First World goals with Third World circumstance. For example, Heidi describes trying to set up polling stations in a mud field beside pigs (Cain 2004: 82), while Ken attempts to collect human rights abuse testimonies in a context where he does not know the language and can offer no protection to witnesses. The quality of pushing the boundary creates a euphoric atmosphere amongst initiates: ‘[i]t was terrifying, it was exciting, it was insane. We were living on the edge – and you should have seen the view!’ (Olson 1999: 10).

Another way in which the structure of normal life is suspended is through sexual relations. Prostitution is openly accepted as part of the landscape (Cain 2004: 76). Two of the three female characters engage in a string of emotionally or physically promiscuous relationships. Both women are excited by the ‘smorgasbord’ of men. Crows Heidi,

[w]ith so few women available, the men have to try harder, offer more of themselves. …In the permanent emergency of the mission, I suddenly don’t have to play by the boys’ rules. Which only proves that the boys’ rules were bullshit to begin with.

(Cain 2004: 133)

However, they both find themselves being bound by yet another set of rules. According to Turner, ‘[i]n liminality, the underlying comes uppermost’ (1969: 102), and in ES Heidi describes her need to have sex in the face of death as a way of re-engaging with bare life. Heidi and Lynne also both find themselves in inverted sexual positions compared to their normal lives. Stripped of their normal human agency as independent beings, they become pure women. In Heidi’s case, she fights against this by trying to use sex to assert herself. In Lynne’s case, she allows herself (and admittedly enjoys) becoming a classic ‘Dili Princess’, wearing a tiara to serve dinner to her male, expat housemates.

While initially, the characters express an exuberance with their jobs, they all eventually descend into despair. This transition occurs as they begin to realise that they are all in a state of ineffectual limbo, where none of their efforts have any impact, and where they seem to be constantly waiting for someone else to take action. Lynne’s entire time in Timor is spent waiting: first for the Independence celebrations working in an office where she is not wanted (hated, according to her colleague); then waiting for a job in the PM’s office promised to her; then waiting for the PM to give her work to do. This leads to a sense of temporariness and uncertainty. ‘[E]veryone keeps a bag packed for emergency evacuation if we need it’ (Olson 1999: 47); ‘I feel like a yo-yo’ (Olson 1999: 98), complains Leanne.  People arrive and leave incessantly.

The state of constant movement is also reflected in the characters’ inability to affect any change. Andrew sighs, ‘[m]y dreams of being useful here are vanishing’ (Cain 2004: 173). The characters see that their activities are directed towards their own liminal state, the space occupied by the international community: ‘all they [the UN] do is bring supplies into their own UN bases for their own staff, and certainly nothing gets to the population’ (Olson 1999: 94). Many of their jobs are by definition observation posts, documenting the situations they are put in. And while, ‘we do some essential work now, the minute we leave it will all fall apart’ (Olson 1999: 151).

This results in frustration, followed by despondency and cynicism in the narrators: ‘I managed to convince myself to believe in this work again. But I don’t. It’s a lie. We are the only beneficiaries of our righteousness’ (Cain 2004: 226). The liminal situation loses its appeal, the narrators begin to crave private space and isolation. This is often preceded by a period of getting sick, when their inoculations, both medical and emotional, can no longer protect them from their surroundings; or by an evacuation where it becomes clear that their presence in the Third World can only be temporary. Discussing the UN’s evacuation from Haiti, Andrew says: ‘[n]ow that they’re at their most vulnerable, we’re abandoning them,…flying out, clutching our precious blue UN passports and bags full of Haitian art’ (Cain 2004: 174). Leanne ruminates, ‘[w]hen things get really bad and we are needed the most, that’s the time when we have to leave’ (Olson 1999: 61).

Ultimately, the characters break down, psychologically, physically, and make the decision to return home. Says Leanne: ‘I just wanted to go home…Frankly, I was sick and tired of the whole thing’ (Olson 1999: 192). ‘I’d been at aid work for nearly four years and was beginning to feel too far removed from “the real world”. I didn’t know if we could truly ever return to the world but it was time to try’ (Olson 1999: 234). This juxtaposition between the surreal world of the field and the ‘real’ world of home is indicative of the anchoring influence of the country of origin.

 

Rites of Re-Aggregation: Returning to ‘Normal’

When the characters do try to return to their previous ordinary lives, they find the re-aggregation difficult. Heidi concedes,

[w]e’ve all tried to make new friends here in New York, and to reverse the alienation we feel from our peers. But the conversation doesn’t usually go far once I say we lived in Somalia for two years, or Ken says that Andrew dug the graves of Srebrenica.

(Cain 2004: 286)

Similarly, Leanne complains that upon return, ‘I found out that my friends and family, for all their good intentions, shared little interest in what I had to say’ (Olson 1999: 9). They try to relocate normalcy as ‘civilians’ (as they call themselves) and find it difficult. Observes Leanne, ‘[w]e led one life that our regular friends and family saw and one that we saved for our friends from the field. We couldn’t seem to get the two lives to merge’ (Olson 1999: 221). This is arguably due to the fact that they have been irrevocably changed by their experiences in the field. In all three memoirs, the liminal phase is described as a transformative and quasi-religious experience. ‘Life as an international relief worker changed me profoundly,’ states Leanne (Olson 1999: 9). Even where it is not overly religious, there is the voiced desire on the part of Ken and Andrew to be part of something bigger than themselves (Cain 2004: 10). This tension in the re-aggregation stage is both predictable and provides insight into the types of people who are attracted by this type of work and the types of challenges that they face. It is of course important to consider that the aid workers who wrote these memoirs are not necessarily indicative of all internationals who engage in statebuilding. It may be only representative of a small, disgruntled or marginalised group who decided to vent their frustration in literary format. But even if this is so, it still represents a significant vocal minority, whose views are remarkable in their consistency. It is also in keeping with van Gennep’s rite of passage. The act of writing such a memoir is the ultimate act of transgression and betrayal for those who remain in the field. By telling the story as they see it – ‘the story of what it’s really like to be an international aid worker’ (Olson 1999: 10) – they break the unwritten code of the field, they separate themselves out from its communitas, from its liminal state. Such an act is the ultimate rite of separation and can only be done by someone who, at least temporarily, feels that the passage is complete.

 

The States in Between, or What van Gennep Tells Us About Statebuilding

This approach holds several lessons for statebuilding efforts and attempts to go beyond the local-international divide. First, it identifies the strong, anchoring influence of the aid workers home country. So far, discussions about bridging the ‘local-international’ divide have been spatially focussed on the country of intent – that is, where the statebuilding is physically taking place. In this reading, the activities, processes, and people associated with the international community in the field are seen as part of the ‘international’ elements of statebuilding and are juxtaposed to those activities, processes, people that are deemed to be ‘local’. Here, the state of being ‘liminal’ or in-between implies being between the workers’ home country and the ‘local’ environment. However, from the perspective of the memoirs, the space of the field is liminal not with regard to its physical surroundings, but with regard to the country of origin. That is to say, that the experience of being in the field is liminal in a temporal sense – as a transformative experience between the before and after of living a ‘normal life’ in the so-called First World. This is in keeping with Duffield’s idea of an ‘archipelago of aid’ where the international space of ‘the field site’ is more closely networked through transport and communications links to its country of origin than it is to its surrounding physical geography or ‘the local’ (Duffield 2009). In the context of statebuilding this implies that to talk of bridging the gap between the international and the local both risks applying conceptual frameworks that only exist within the international, and over-estimates the ability of the international to look towards (and recognise) the local, rather than continuing to gaze in towards itself.

Second, an analysis of the liminal space of ‘the field’ contributes to social boundary formation and highlights the close-knit emotional bonds that are created between members of the international community. Understanding this as an expected part of a rite of passage provides insight into the persistence of seemingly irresponsible or culturally inappropriate behaviours. Affective and emotional bonds are further reified through the material and spatial practices of exception, practiced by the international community. As international workers, they are protected by international accords of immunity, which translate not only into different laws, but different lifestyles within the compounds. It also helps explain the noticeable absence of ‘local’ people within the spaces of the international. In the context of the memoirs, the pages are peopled largely with other ‘ex-pats’. Even when the project or intervention is intended to be for an entire population, such as the independence celebrations for East Timor in 2002, the beneficiaries end up being excluded: linguistically, culturally, and physically. Lynne describes how the grandiose celebrations to celebrate the handover of the UN transitional administration to the Timorese, in May 2002, was aimed almost exclusively to the international community. She says, ‘despite the dark skins of some of the visitors, the host country has very few of its own in attendance, other than those who carry the trays’ (Minion 2004: 114). The impact of these structured spaces is that it reinforces established ways of being, and ultimately of thinking and doing. In each one of the novels, the ‘logic of the mission’ is theirs, not the local community’s (Cain 2004: 174). This is a potentially devastating point as it emphasises the structural aspect of the international habitus of statebuilding and raises the question of whether it is indeed possible to move beyond it.

Even those individuals who speak the language of the place they are going to, or stay in a country for long periods of time, may find themselves rejected by the very populations that they have come to assist. Local populations may consider aid workers as potential contaminants to the larger society or a threat to local elites, and accordingly push the aid workers back into their spatial and social categories. A theme in the narratives is the characters’ repeated attempts to break out of the ‘expat bubble’ only to be met with resistance both from other expats and from the local communities. During Lynne’s time in East Timor, the bars and restaurants frequented by the expats are quite literally kept offshore where boats have been converted into floating bars. As late as 2008, the international community is kept on permanent stand-by, by the refusal or inability of the Timorese government to provide long-term working visas for internationals. Heidi, on ‘rest and relation’ near Mombassa, tries and fails to escape her tourist hotel to find the ‘real Kenya’ (Cain 2004: 95). Lynne attempts to enter into the daily routines of her Timorese patrons, but is met with a lack of understanding as to why she, a malae,^[4] would want to.

But the exclusion may not only be on behalf of local populations. According to Douglas (2002), liminal figures by Turner’s definition are ‘almost everywhere regarded as “polluting” and “dangerous”’, and this seems to be supported by the aid workers’ experiences, the third issue to highlight. As Andrew exhumes bodies in Gisenyi, Rwanda, he thinks to himself, ‘I have my UN passport and my air ticket out. But I don’t smell so good, I have human flesh under my nails, and I spend my days arguing with priests and governors about corpses and money’ (Cain 2004: 246). Sitting on the plane back to Winnipeg, Leanne remarks, ‘[n]o one wants to sit next to a skinny orange woman who has obviously been out in the bush too long’ (Olson 1999: 58). Such experiences need to be taken into consideration when trying to understand what it means to be an international, working in challenging conditions. Issues such as staff composition and turnover may be as important in the success or failure of statebuilding missions as constitutions and elections.

 

Conclusion

The analysis of aid workers’ memoirs offers three sets of conclusions. The first offers insight into the persistence of the category of the international (and its perceived inverse of the local) in statebuilding discourse. The application of van Gennep’s rite of passage suggests the need to consider whether the practices of the international are part of a structural process that has very little to do with the so-called local. To attempt to engage in ‘rapprochement’ or ‘bridging’ is to over-simplify the essential qualities of these states and to ignore that they are driven by different incentives, with different time frames, and different objectives. Further, to understand the space of ‘the field’, the space of statebuilding, as liminal implies that ‘the international’ is not hermetic by accident, but that this has been an important part of the experience of ‘going to the field’ for the aid workers carrying out the task and therefore an important (and overlooked) part of statebuilding. The implication of such a discrete and resilient international space has implications for the epistemology of statebuilding. If the experience of the local is only conducted from within the spaces of the international – the compounds, the conference rooms, the hotels and Humvees – then what is understood as ‘local’ can only be an ‘international’ concept.

A second set of conclusions can be drawn with regard to the methodological need to go beyond established qualitative and quantitative research methods for understanding the experience of statebuilding. As encouraged by Carr (2010), Lewis et al. (2008), and Schaffer and Smith (2004), life memoirs offer insight into the processes of aid work which is easily missed by other methods; into what Pouligny has called the intangible dimensions of statebuilding (Pouligny 2010). By reading across memoirs, as done in this chapter, there is the further opportunity to identify recurrent structures, themes, tropes and absences offering yet another level of insight into the process. Further work needs to be done to understand the impact of these novels on their readership – both in terms of attracting the next generation of international civil servants and aid workers and in terms of influencing how those in the countries of origin think about the liminal space of the field.

A final conclusion is that the practice of statebuilding is not an accident or incidental part of the process, but is actually co-constitutive of the process itself. A positive reading of this conclusion would be to highlight the need to look as much at the way in which statebuilding is done, as the stated objectives. Change the process and we will change the result. This is the approach endorsed by organisations, which endorse professional standards and codes of conduct for aid workers. But a more pessimistic reading would point to the structural quality of the process of statebuilding and ask whether it is possible to separate thought from action, agency from structure. As long as statebuilding continues to be an internationally driven endeavour, it will be based in the structures and habitus of the international, raising questions as to the possibility of either bridging or going beyond the categories which continue to plague its intended success.^[5]

 

Acknowledgements

 

The author would like to thank Berit Bliesemann de Guevara, Ellen Smirl and Anna Stavrianakis for their helpful comments on this chapter.

 

References

 

Bowie, F. (2006) The anthropology of religion: an introduction, 2nd edition, Oxford: Blackwell.

Cain, K. (2004) Emergency sex (and other desperate measures): A true story from hell on earth, hardcover edition, New York: Miramax Books/Hyperion.

Carr, E.R. (2010) ‘The place of stories in development: creating spaces for participation through narrative analysis’, Development in Practice, 20(2): 219-26.

Donais, T. (2009) ‘Empowerment or Imposition? Dilemmas of Local Ownership in Post-Conflict Peacebuilding Processes’, Peace & Change, 34(1): 3-26.

Douglas, M. (2002) Purity and danger: an analysis of concept of pollution and taboo, London: Routledge.

Duffield, M. (2009) Architectures of Aid, Cambridge: University of Cambridge.

Eade, D. (1997) Capacity-building: an approach to people-centred development, Oxford: Oxfam.

Gigliotti, S. (2007) ‘Genocide Yet Again: Scences of Rwanda and Ethical Witness in the Human Rights Memoir’, Australian Journal of Politics and History, 53(1): 84-95.

Heathershaw, J. (2008) ‘Unpacking the Liberal Peace: The Dividing and Merging of Peacebuilding Discourses’, Millennium – Journal of International Studies, 36(3): 597-621.

Kenny, S. (2005) ‘Reconstruction in Aceh: Building whose capacity?’ Community Development Journal, 42(2): 206-221. 

Lewis, D., Rodgers, D. and Woolcock, M. (2008) ‘The Fiction of Development: Literary Representation as a Source of Authoritative Knowledge’, Journal of Development Studies, 44(2): 198-216.

Mac Ginty, R. (2010) ‘Hybrid Peace: The Interaction Between Top-Down and Bottom-Up Peace’, Security Dialogue, 41: 391-412.

Minion, L. (2004) Hello Missus: A Girl’s Own Guide to Foreign Affairs, Sydney: Harper Collins.

Olson, L. (1999) A Cruel Paradise, Toronto: Insomniac Press.

Pouligny, B. (2010) State-Society Relations and Intangible Dimensions of State Resilience and State Building: A Bottom-Up Perspective, European Report on Development, Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies: European University Institute.

Richmond, O. (2009) ‘Becoming Liberal, Unbecoming Liberalism: Liberal-Local Hybridity via the Everyday as a Response to the Paradoxes of Liberal Peacebuilding’, Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, 3(3): 324-44.

Schaffer, K. and Smith, S. (2004) ‘Conjunctions: Life Narratives in the Field of Human Rights’, Biography: an interdisciplinary quarterly, 27(1): 1-24.

Smillie, I. (2001) Patronage or partnership: local capacity building in humanitarian crises, Bloomfield, Conn.: Kumarian Press.

Turner, V.W. (1969) The ritual process: structure and anti-structure, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

— (1975) Dramas, fields, and metaphors; symbolic action in human society, Ithaca: Cornell University Press.

— (1977) ‘Chapter III: Variations on a Theme of Liminality’, in S. F. Moore and B. G. Myerhoff (eds.) Secular ritual, Assen: Gorcum, 36-52.

van Gennep, A. (1960) The Rites of Passage, London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Yang, G. (2000) ‘The Liminal Effects of Social Movements: Red Guards and the Transformation of Identity’, Sociological Forum, 15(3): 379-406.

 

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^[1] The term ‘capacity building’ is often used within development discourse to refer to the transfer of skills in a particular area from external technical advisors to local beneficiaries (cf. Eade 1997). For critical perspectives see (Kenny 2005; Smillie 2001). Here, Lynne is using the term facetiously.

^[2] It is worth highlighting that this is not the first attempt to use fictional narratives to deepen understandings of development processes. Lewis et al. (2008) look at a range of texts that document the impacts and experience of development from a wide range of perspectives. Similarly, Carr (2010) has looked at the potential for using narrative to better understand different perspectives, and Schaffer and Smith (2004) and Gigliotti (2007) have looked specifically at the human rights memoir to understand the process of bearing witness.

^[3] Turner himself encourages the use of ‘oral narratives of personal observation and experiences’ in his study of the rites of passage of pilgrims (Turner 1975: 167).

^[4] Malae = foreigner (usually white).

^[5] Cf. also Goetze and Bliesemann de Guevara in this volume.

Conflict, Security and Development

“Conflict, Security and Development” – MA core module, University of Sussex

COURSE SUMMARY

Part I: Introduction to the CSD Nexus: policy oriented approaches/interpretations

Week 1: Introduction to CSD: Themes and Actors
• Overview of theories of CSD
• The ethics of researching CSD

Week 2: Diagnostics and analysis:
Case study and conflict mapping – Afghanistan

Week 3: Presentations & debrief; methodological and conceptual challenges

Part II: Interrogating causality

Week 4: When is a war (not) a war? Defining and understanding violence

Week 5: Identity as source of conflict? Case Study: Bosnia

Week 6: Economic sources of conflict? Case Study: West Africa

Part III: Considering the solutions

Week 7: Essay Preparation week

Week 8: Who’s responsibility to protect? Defining State Failure and Refining State- building Case study: East Timor

Week 9: Conflict is elsewhere the construction of the “third world”; and the changing dynamics of aid
Case Study: China in Africa

Week 10: “Security first” and the militarization of humanitarian assistance?
Case Study: Afghanistan in the context of British Development Policy

The aim of this course is threefold:
1. Examine the extent to which destructive cycles of insecurity and violence affect the possibility of development for large sections of the world’s population.
2. Investigate whether underdevelopment can be said to constitute a security threat. Some Western governments, for example, claim that underdevelopment in the global South could threaten their national security by facilitating the international spread of terrorist and criminal networks.
3. Analyze the difficulties that aid agencies, non-governmental organisations, governments, and international organizations encounter when trying to negotiate these spirals of violence and insecurity – be it through armed intervention, the provision of aid, the sponsoring of peace-building processes, or assisting states in post-conflict reconstruction.

The learning objectives are:
1. Provide students with an overview of contemporary perspectives on CSD;
2. Provide students with the theoretical and conceptual frameworks that will allow them to critique these approaches on process grounds;
3. Reposition current CSD debates within a wider, critical frame.

The course combines contemporary policy approaches and frameworks with a solid grounding in relevant, cross-disciplinary, social theory. Doing so allows students to both develop practical skills that will prepare them for a policy oriented career in the public or non-government sectors but also provide them with the opportunity to hone their critical abilities. Other skills that will be developed include:
• Presentation skills in weekly seminars
• Research skills through developing a presentation on a particular case study
• Team work through the development and presentation of the group project.
• Writing skills through composing an essay that requires them to read widely from the reading list and to synthesize the information for      the purposes of the essay
• Problem solving skills by exploring complex contemporary issues of conflict, security and development
• Reflective skills by critically evaluating and synthesizing competing conceptions and theories of security
• Information technology skills by suing word processing for the essay and seminar notes and on the internet to obtain further information on issues of conflict, security and development

Given the short time frame, certain topics could not be included such as security sector reform & demobilization; climate change as security threat; conflict prevention & resolution; natural disasters; peacekeeping; the privatization of humanitarian assistance; international humanitarian law; and many others. Many of these topics are covered in the various optional courses, including Complex Humanitarian Emergencies. If you are intent upon covering any of these (or related) topics within CSD, I am happy to work with you to develop a reading list and research agenda as part of your long essay (provided they are linked into the main themes of this course).

Coursework & Assessment

This work is cumulatively assessed as followed:

GROUP PRESENTATION – 25 %
DUE DATE: IN CLASS ON WEEK ASSIGNED
Students will be assigned to a group and week. They are required to present, as a group to the seminar on the case study of that week. The presentation must be prepared according to specifications in Annex 1. Marking criteria are also set out there.

ESSAY OUTLINE – FORMATIVE (PEER ASSESSED IN CLASS)
DUE DATE: IN CLASS WEEK 7
Prepared according to specification in Annex 2

FINAL ESSAY – 75 %
DUE DATE: Please refer to your Sussex Direct ‘Assessment Deadlines and Exam Timetable’.
5,000 word essay due at the beginning of Spring Term. Students may pick from one of the “Sample Essay Topics” listed in Annex 4, or may define their own question. The final essay must conform to the standards as laid out in the PG handbook as follows:

Term papers and dissertations should be word processed or typed on one side of paper only. They should conform to professional standards of punctuation, grammar and academic discourse. Clear references to sources and bibliography should be provided and all direct quotations should be clearly marked. Consequently, all students must be aware of the following definitions of collusion and plagiarism.

Collusion is the preparation or production of work for assessment jointly with another person or persons unless explicitly permitted by the examiners. An act of collusion is understood to encompass those who actively assist others as well as those who derive benefit from others’ work. Plagiarism is the use, without acknowledgement, of the intellectual work of other people, and the act of representing the ideas or discoveries of another as one’s own in written work submitted for assessment. To copy sentences, phrases or even striking expressions without acknowledgement of the source (either by inadequate citation or failure to indicate verbatim quotations), is plagiarism; to paraphrase without acknowledgement is likewise plagiarism. Where such copying or paraphrase has occurred the mere mention of the source in the bibliography shall not be deemed sufficient acknowledgement; each such instance must be referred specifically to its source, Verbatim quotations must be either in inverted commas, or indented, and directly acknowledged.

Format of essay:
I don’t have formal style requirements, but the following points are important.
• Please use clear 12 pt. font, double spaced, with adequate margins for all work.
• Please be consistent in your style (paragraphs, spelling, capitalisation). It all contributes to the overall impression and legibility of your argument.
• For informal work (presentations, etc.) please make sure your name is on the document itself.
• Proper referencing is essential both on grounds of avoiding plagiarism, and to support your argument. A consistent referencing style must be used throughout your submitted work. See http://www.sussex.ac.uk/library/infoplus/reference/introduction.html for more information. I don’t have a preference as long as it’s clear and consistent.

Submission of Essay:
The essay will need to be submitted to the School Office (C168) between 9:00 and 16:00 on January 10th, 2011. Students need to submit two copies of the essay, one with a green cover sheet for the first examiner and one with a blue cover sheet for the second examiner. The cover sheets will be available from the School Office in Week 10 of Autumn Term.

Feedback & Questions
I am happy to consider your evaluations of this course. Please raise any difficulties as they arise. You will be able to anonymously assess the course via Sussex Direct near the end of term and I ask that you take the time to fill in the questionnaire, as it is taken very seriously by the department, school and university. Your feedback is important.

Learning Methods
There will be a series of weekly seminars of 1h and 50 min duration. The seminars are designed to provide an overview of the course syllabus with commentary on the literature and are an opportunity to explore in depth particular issues and to engage in discussion in a small group context. Students will be expected to at a minimum read the “essential reading” which is included in the course pack and come to seminar armed with two or three questions/issues that the readings raised. Most importantly, students will also be expected to engage in continuous independent study, employing the reading list (below) to deepen their knowledge of the subject. In the second week of term we will be undertaking a mock “strategic conflict assessment”. Students are expected to prepare for this exercise as they would any other seminar and to fully participate. A debrief will be held in Week 3 at which point each team will present their SCA.

Use of Study Direct
Study Direct will be the primary mode of communication for the course. Information will be posted to the News discussion forum (and emailed to all course members) by the course convenor. Likewise, students are expected to post any relevant information such as presentations or handouts that they have produced to Study Direct as soon as possible (preferably prior to the class in question). Discussion groups will be set up by the course convenor for this purpose.

Office Hours
Are posted on my University website. Please use them.

Using the Library
Arrangements will be made so that important course texts will be made available in the library. Other useful texts that are not in the library’s normal collection will be made available where necessary. If material listed appears to have disappeared altogether or damaged please let the library staff know about this, and they will inform the course supervisor, so we can make alternative sources available wherever possible. Similarly if you cannot find any of the material listed, because it is out on loan, do search through the rest of the collection to find other relevant texts. The reading lists are deliberately extensive to allow you to consult other works if your first choice is not available. Remember also that the reading list does not exhaustively list all the available material in the library on a given subject. If you find anything particularly valuable let the course convenor know so that material can be added to subsequent years reading lists. You’re urged to take the time to familiarize yourselves with the library resources including electronic databases such as Web of Knowledge. In addition, the library has put together “subject pages” which may be of use. See, for example – http://www.sussex.ac.uk/library/subjects/international_relations.php for International Relations. You may also want to consult the Anthropology, Geography, Development Studies (forthcoming) or Politics pages. Google Scholar is another useful resource for locating articles, but be aware that there’s no quality control.

Useful Journals (Bold are highly recommended):
• Alternatives
• Civil Wars
• Community Development Journal
• Conflict
• Conflict, Security and Development
• Development and Change
• Development in Practice
• Development Policy Review
• Disasters
• Ethics & International Affairs
• Ethnopolitics
• Global Governance
• Human Rights Quarterly
• IDS Bulletin
• International Affairs
• International Organization
• International Peacekeeping
• International Security
• Intervention and State Building
• Journal of Conflict Resolution
• Journal of Conflict, Security and Development
• Journal of Developmental Studies
• Journal of Humanitarian Assistance
• Journal of Human Development
• Journal of International Development
• Journal of Peacebuilding and Development
• Journal of Peace Research
• Oxford Development Studies
• Progress in Development Studies
• Public Administration and Development
• Review of African Political Economy
• Review of International Political Economy
• Security and Development
• Security Dialogue
• Survival
• Third World Quarterly
• World Politics

Additionally, region-specific journals, such as Journal of Modern African Studies, etc., will carry articles relevant to the themes covered in this course and may be a good source for
case-study materials.

Useful Websites (please let me know of others you come across):
• Berghof Centre: http://www.berghof-center.org/std_page.php?LANG=e&id=13
• Centre for International Development and Conflict Management: http://www.cidcm.umd.edu/
• Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation (Johannesburg): http://www.csvr.org.za/
• Centre for the Study of Violence, University of Sao Paulo: http://nevusp.org/english or another Brazilian site on public security: http://www.ucamcesec.com.br/
• Center on International Cooperation http://www.cic.nyu.edu/index.html
• Chronic Poverty Research Centre: http://www.chronicpoverty.org
• Clingendael Institute: http://www.clingendael.nl
• CMI: http://www.cmi.no/
• Department for International Development (DFID): http://www.dfid.gov.uk/
• Development Studies Association: http://www.devstud.org.uk/
• Global Facilitation Network for SSR: http://www.ssrnetwork.net
• Governance and Social Development Resource Center: http://www.grc-exchange.org/
• Human Rights Watch: http://www.hrw.org
• Human Development Reports: http://hdr.undp.org/en/
• Human Security Gateway http://www.humansecuritygateway.info/
• Human Security Report: http://www.humansecurityreport.info/
• Human Security Network: http://www.humansecuritynetwork.org/
• ID21: http://www.id21.org/
• Institute of Development Studies: http://www.ids.ac.uk
• International Alert: http://www.international-alert.org/
• International Crisis Group: http://www.crisisweb.org
• International Institute for the Environment and Development: http://www.iied.org/
• International Peace Institute (formerly Academy): http://www.ipacademy.org/
• IRIN: http://www.irinnews.org/
• MandE News: http://mande.co.uk/
• ODI: http://www.odi.org.uk
• OECD DAC: http://www.oecd.org/department/0,2688,en_2649_33721_1_1_1_1_1,00.html
• Oneworld: http://www.oneworld.net/
• Paris Declaration: http://www.aidharmonization.org/ah-overview/secondary-pages/editable?key=205
• Reality of Aid: http://www.realityofaid.org/
• Reliefweb: http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf
• Reuters Alert Net http://www.alertnet.org/
• Small Arms Survey http://www.smallarmssurvey.org/
• Stimson Center: http://www.stimson.org/pubs/
• The Correlates of War Project, University of Michigan: http://www.umich.edu/~cowproj/
• United States Institute of Peace: http://www.usip.org
• UNRISD: http://www.unrisd.org
• Uppsala Conflict Data Project: http://www.pcr.uu.se/research/UCDP/

See also the websites of the major International Organizations (UN, World Bank, IMF), bilateral agencies (CIDA, SIDA, USAID, JICA) and NGOs (Oxfam, Care, Save the Children…) as all will have CSD oriented programmes or thematic areas. For news, and news magazines and broadsheets see BBC News, The Economist, Financial Times, Guardian, Washington Post, and New York Times.

Background texts:
If you are considering buying any texts, I would highly recommend purchasing (and reading) Cramer, Christopher (2006) Civil War Is Not a Stupid Thing : Accounting for Violence in Developing Countries. London: Hurst & Co. It covers the themes of the course in a thorough and sophisticated manner and you will find it useful throughout the term. Other useful “overview” books and articles are listed below under “Additional Readings”.

Weiss, Thomas George; and Cindy Collins. (2000) Humanitarian Challenges and Intervention. Dilemmas in World Politics. 2nd ed. ed. Boulder, Colo. ; Oxford: Westview Press. provides a good overview of the humanitarian themes and you’ll notice that other books such as Kalyvas, Stathis N. (2006) The Logic of Violence in Civil War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. come up in multiple weeks.

Kalyvas, Stathis N.,Ian Shapiro; and Tarek E. Masoud. (2008) Order, Conflict, and Violence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. and Scheper-Hughes, Nancy; and Philippe I. Bourgois. (2004) Violence in War and Peace : Edited by Nancy Scheper-Hughes and Philippe Bourgois. Blackwell Readers in Anthropology. Oxford: Blackwell. are both thought provoking anthologies covering various aspects and concepts covered by the course.

Additional Readings:
Brahimi, Lakhdar. (2000) Report of the Panel on United National Peace Operations. New York: United Nations (DPKO).
Chesterman, Simon. (2001) Just War or Just Peace? : International Law and Humanitarian Intervention. Oxford Monographs in International Law. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Crocker, Chester A.,Fen Osler Hampson; and Pamela R. Aall. (2006) Leashing the Dogs of War : Conflict Management in a Divided World. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press.
Duffield, Mark R. (2001) Global Governance and the New Wars : The Merging of Development and Security. London ; New York: Zed Books.
———. (2007) Development, Security and Unending War : Governing the World of Peoples. Cambridge: Polity.
Hutchinson, John F. (1996) Champions of Charity : War and the Rise of the Red Cross. Boulder, Colo. ; Oxford: Westview.
Jackson, Robert. (2004) International Engagement in War-Torn Countries. Global Governance 10:21-36.
Jacoby, Tim. (2008) Understanding Conflict and Violence : Theoretical and Interdisciplinary Approaches. London: Routledge.
Kaldor, Mary. (2006) New & Old Wars. 2nd ed. ed. Cambridge: Polity.
Kalyvas, Stathis N. (2001) ‘New’ and ‘Old’ Civil Wars: A Valid Distinction? World Politics 54:99-118.
———. (2006) The Logic of Violence in Civil War. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Keen, David. (2008) Complex Emergencies. Cambridge: Polity.
Lepard, Brian D. (2002) Rethinking Humanitarian Intervention : A Fresh Approach Based on Fundamental Ethical Principles in International Law and World Religions. University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press ; London : Eurospan.
Moyo, Dambisa. (2009) Dead Aid : Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is Another Way for Africa. London: Allen Lane.
OECD DAC. (2008) Introduction and Chapter 1 In Resource Flows to Fragile and Conflict-Affected States, edited by OECD DAC. Paris: OECD DAC.
Paris, Roland. (2006) At War’s End: Building Peace after Civil Conflict. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Power, Samantha. (2008) Chasing the Flame : Sergio Vieira De Mello and the Fight to Save the World. London: Allen Lane.
Pugh, Michael. (2005) Peacekeeping and Critical Theory In Peace Operations and Global Order, edited by Alex J. and Paul Williams Bellamy, pp. 39-58. London and Oxford: Frank Cass and Routledge.
UN Secretary-General,, UN Secretary-General. 1992. An Agenda for Peace: Preventive Diplomacy, Peacemaking and Peace-Keeping.
Weiss, Thomas George; and Cindy Collins. (2000) Humanitarian Challenges and Intervention. Dilemmas in World Politics. 2nd ed. ed. Boulder, Colo. ; Oxford: Westview Press.
Welsh, Jennifer M. (2004) Humanitarian Intervention and International Relations. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wheeler, Nicholas J. (2000) Saving Strangers : Humanitarian Intervention in International Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Part I: Introduction to the CSD Nexus and mainstream approaches/interpretations

The first part of the course is devoted to introducing students to the emergence of the CSD debate post-1990, and to provide them with a working understanding of current policy approaches from both a diagnostic and prescriptive perspective.

Week 1: Introduction to CSD: Themes and Actors
In this seminar, the various components of the course outline will be explained including coursework and assessment requirements. Following this, the themes and issues that form the basis for the course will be outlined. The central thesis of the course will be advanced: namely, that current policy and mainstream academic discussions of “Conflict, Security and Development” approach the topic from an overly narrow perspective, and fail to problematize its basic conceptual apparatus such as the “nation state”; “conflict” and “security” or to contextualize these concepts within a longer socio-historical narrative.

In this seminar, students will be introduced to the analytic modelling approach to conflict, security and development (CSD), as it emerged as the dominant policy perspective post-1990. You will be introduced to the Strategic Conflict Assessment to be used next week.

Guiding Questions:
• When did CSD emerge as a concept and how has it evolved?
• Who are the actors involved?

Essential Readings (in pack):
Berger, Mark T and Heloise Weber (2009) War, Peace and Progress: conflict, development, (in)security and violence in the 21st century Third World Quarterly 30 (1):1-16
Chandler, David. (2008) Review Article: Theorising the Shift from Security to Insecurity – Kaldor, Duffield and Furedi. Conflict, Security & Development 8:265-76.
Collier, Paul (2008) Chapter 2 from The Bottom Billion. New York: OUP
Duffield, Mark. (2001) Chapter 2 in Global Governance and the New Wars : The Merging of Development and Security. London: Zed (2001).
Mac Ginty, Roger; and Andrew Williams. (2009) Introduction In Conflict and Development, edited by Roger Mac Ginty and Andrew Williams. London: Routledge.

Additional Readings: (See also, Background Readings, above)
Chandler, David. (2008) Theorising the Shift from Security to Insecurity – Kaldor, Duffield, Furedi. Conflict, Security & Development 8:265-76.
Dower, Nigel. (1999) Development, Violence and Peace: A Conceptual Exploration. The European Journal of Development Research 11:44 – 64.
Edkins, Jenny. (2003) Humanitarianism, Humanity, Human. Journal of Human Rights 2:253-58.
Fox, Fiona. (2001) New Humanitarianism: Does It Provide a Moral Banner for the 21st Century Disasters 25:275-89.
Gasper, Des. (1999) Violence and Suffering, Responsibility and Choice: Issues in Ethics and Development. The European Journal of Development Research 11:1 – 22.
Kaldor, Mary. (2007) Chapter 3. In Human Security, edited by Mary Kaldor, pp. ix, 228 p. Cambridge: Polity.
Mills, Kurt. (2005) Neo-Humanitarianism: The Role of International Humanitarian Norms and Organizations in Contemporary Conflict. Global Governance 11:161-83.
OECD DAC. (2008) Introduction and Chapter 1 In Resource Flows to Fragile and Conflict-Affected States, edited by OECD DAC. Paris: OECD DAC.
Secretary General’s High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. (2004) Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. New York: United Nations.
Tausig, M. (2004) Culture of Terror – Space of Death: Roger Casement’s Putumayo Report and the Explanation of Terror In Violence in War and Peace : Edited by Nancy Scheper-Hughes and Philippe Bourgois, edited by Nancy Scheper-Hughes and Philippe I. Bourgois, pp. xv, 496 p. Oxford: Blackwell.
UN Secretary-General,, UN Secretary-General. 1992. An Agenda for Peace: Preventive Diplomacy, Peacemaking and Peace-Keeping.
UN Secretary-General. 2005. In Larger Freedom: Towards Development, Security and Human Rights for All. United Nations
Wheeler, Nicholas J. (2000) Saving Strangers : Humanitarian Intervention in International Society. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Wood, William B. (1996) From Humanitarian Relief to Humanitarian Intervention: Victims, Interveners and Pillars. Political Geography 15:671-95.

Week 2: Diagnostics and analysis: Case study and conflict mapping – Afghanistan
Students will be broken up into small groups to do a Strategic Conflict Assessment on Afghanistan. Students will be given detailed instructions at the beginning of class. Students should prepare for this class by (a) familiarizing themselves with several of the “conflict assessment methodologies” listed below*, as well as with (b) the ongoing conflict situation in Afghanistan.

Essential Readings on Afghanistan
BBC. 2010. Country Profile: Afghanistan. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/country_profiles/1162668.stm
CIA. 2010. The World Factbook: Afghanistan. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/af.html
International Crisis Group. 2010. Afghanistan.
http://www.crisisgroup.org/en/regions/asia/south-asia/afghanistan.aspx

Essential Readings on Conflict Assessments
Governance and Social Development Resource Centre: Conflict Analysis Frameworks and Tools http://www.gsdrc.org/go/conflict/chapter-1-understanding-violent-conflict/conflict-analysis-framework-and-tools (on line) – have a look at the various approaches to analyzing conflict and choose one or two that you are most comfortable with to analyse in depth.

Additional Readings:
Bank, The World. (2009) Afghanistan: Data, Projects & Research.
DFID. (2007) Preventing Violent Conflict London: DFID.
———. (2009) Eliminating World Poverty: Building Our Common Future. London: DFID.
Felbab-Brown, Vanda. (2006) Kicking the Opium Habit? Afghanistan’s Drug Economy and Politics since the 1980s. Conflict, Security & Development 6.
Giustozzi, Antonio. (2007) War and Peace Economies of Afghanistan’s Strong Men. International Peacekeeping 14.
World Health Organisation. (2002) World Report on Violence and Health. edited by Etienne G Krug and et al. Geneva.

Week 3: Debrief and discussion of measurement and conceptual problems
During the first part of the seminar, each group will briefly present their SCA from the previous week, highlighting why they used a particular approach and the challenges that they faced using the methodology. It will introduce a discussion of the underlying assumptions of this approach to modelling conflict and discuss the implications that this had on the types of interventions that are proposed.

Part II: Interrogating Causality

The next three sessions (Weeks 4 through 6) examines the relationship between causal factors and conflict and violence, highlighting two common themes: identity and economics.

Week 4: When is a war (not) a war? Defining, measuring and understanding violence

This week considers the idea of conflict, and the commensurate idea of violence (and conversely peace).

Guiding Questions:
• How do we measure violence and conflict? What assumptions are made, and limits met? How is correlation established? Is there a spectrum of violence?
• What are the methodological and measurement issues encountered during field work? Is it realistic for agencies and researchers to try and ‘do no harm’?
• Is the violence that we are seeing somehow ‘new’?
• What is peace?

Essential Readings:

Suhrke, Astri and Ingrid Samset (2007) What’s in a Figure? Estimating Recurrence of Civil War. International Peacekeeping 14:195-203.
Collins, Randall “Micro and Macro causes of Violence” International Journal of Conflict and Violence 3(1) 2009: 9-22.
Kalyvas, Stathis N. (2001) ‘New’ and ‘Old’ Civil Wars: A Valid Distinction? World Politics 54:99-118.
Sambanis, Nicholas. (2004) What Is Civil War?: Conceptual and Empirical Complexities of an Operational Definition. Journal of Conflict Resolution 48:814-58.
Wood, Elisabeth Jean. (2006) The Ethical Challenges of Field Research in Conflict Zones. Qualitative Sociology 29.

Additional Resources:
Arendt, H. (1969) Reflections on Violence. Journal of International Affairs 23:1-35.
Barakat, S., M. Chard, T. Jacoby and W. Lume (2002) The Composite Approach: Research Design in the Context of War and Armed Conflict. Third World Quarterly 23:991-1003.
Blok, Anton. (2000) Chapter 1 – the Enigma of Senseless Violence. In Meanings of Violence : A Cross Cultural Perspective, edited by Go ran Aijmer and J. Abbink, pp. xvii, 220 p. Oxford: Berg.
Brennan, W. (1998) Aggression and Violence: Examining the Theories. Nursing Standard 12:36-38.
Browning, Christopher R. (1992) Ordinary Men : Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland. New York, NY: Aaron Asher Books.
Chomsky, Noam. (1967) The Legitimacy of Violence as a Political Act.
Collins, Randall. (2008) Violence : A Micro-Sociological Theory. Princeton, N.J. ; Woodstock: Princeton University Press.
Collins et al. A mini-forum on Violence in The British Journal of Sociology (2009) Vol. 30:3.
Courtney, Morgan (Lead), Hugh Riddell, John Ewers, Rebecca Linder, Craig Cohen. . (2005) In the Balance: Measuring Progress in Afghanistan. In Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project edited by Frederick Barton, Bathsheba Crocker (Co-Directors): CSIS.
Cramer, Christopher (2006) Chapters 2 & 3 in Civil War Is Not a Stupid Thing : Accounting for Violence in Developing Countries. London: Hurst & Co.
Csete, Joanne; and Juliane Kippenberg. (2002) The War within the War : Sexual Violence against Women and Girls in Eastern Congo. New York ; London: Human Rights Watch.
CSIS. (2004) Progress or Peril: Measuring Iraq’s Reconstruction In Post-Conflict Reconstruction Project, edited by Frederick Barton, Bathsheba Crocker (Co-Directors): Center for Strategic and International Studies.
Davenport, C; and B Ball. (2002) View to a Kill: Explaining the Implications of Source Selection in the Case of Guatemalan State Terror, 1977-1995. Journal of Conflict Resolution 46:427-51.
Dauphinee, Elizabeth (2007) Chapter 2 in The Ethics of Researching War. Manchester: Manchester University Press
Ehrenreich, Barbara. (1997) Blood Rites : Origins and History of the Passions of War. London: Virago.
Eldringham, Nigel. (2004) Accounting for Horror: Post Genocide Debates in Rwanda. Vancouver: Pluto Press.
Gilligan, James. (2000) Chapter 5 In Violence : Reflections on Our Deadliest Epidemic, edited by James Gilligan, p. 306 p. London: Jessica Kingsley.
Girard, Rene. (1996) Chapter 1 – 3 & 6. In The Girard Reader, edited by Rene Girard and James G. Williams, pp. xii,310p. New York: Crossroad.
Grossman, Dave. (1995) On Killing : The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society. Boston, Mass. ; London: Little, Brown.
Hanssen, Beatrice. (2000) On the Politics of Pure Means: Benjamin, Arendt, Foucault. In Critique of Violence : Between Poststructuralism and Critical Theory, edited by Beatrice Hanssen, pp. vi, 314 p. London: Routledge.
Hoffman, Danny. (2005) Warscape Ethnography in West Africa and the Anthropology Of “Events”. Anthropological Quarterly 78:315-27.
Holsti, K. J. (1996) The State, War, and the State of War. Cambridge Studies in International Relations. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hussein, Karim,James Sunberg; and David Seddon. (1999) Increasing Violent Conflict between Herders and Farmers in Africa: Claims and Evidence. Development Policy Review 11:397-418.
Jacoby, Tim. (2008) Understanding Conflict and Violence : Theoretical and Interdisciplinary Approaches. London: Routledge.
Kalyvas, Stathis N. (2004) “The Urban Bias in Research on Civil War” Security Studies Vol 13(3): 160-190.
Kalyvas, Stathis N.,Ian Shapiro; and Tarek E. Masoud. (2008) Introduction In Order, Conflict, and Violence, edited by Stathis N. Kalyvas, Ian Shapiro and Tarek E. Masoud, pp. xiii, 436 p. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kassimeris, George. (2006) The Barbarisation of Warfare – a User’s Manual. In The Barbarisation of Warfare, pp. xii, 321 p. London: Hurst.
Keane, John. (1996) Reflections on Violence. London: Verso.
Kriger, Norma J. (2003) Guerrilla Veterans in Post-War Zimbabwe : Symbolic and Violent Politics, 1980-1987. African Studies. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Leach, Fiona. (2006) Researching Gender Violence in Schools: Methodological and Ethical Considerations. World Development 34:1129-47.
Mawdsley, Emma; and Jonathan Rigg. (2002) A Survey of the World Development Reports I: Discursive Strategies. Progress in Development Studies 2:93-111.
Milgram, Stanley. (1974) Obedience to Authority: An Experimental View. London: Tavistock Publications.
Mitchell, Timothy. (2002) Rule of Experts : Egypt, Techno-Politics, Modernity – Chapter 5. Berkeley, Calif. ; London: University of California Press.
Nordstrom, Carolyn; and Antonius C. G. M. Robben. (1995) Fieldwork under Fire : Contemporary Studies of Violence and Survival. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Rubinstein, Robert A. (1998) Methodological Changes in the Ethnographic Study of Multilateral Peacekeeping. PoLAR: Political and Legal Anthropological Review 21:138.
Sartre, Jean Paul (1969) Preface. In The Wretched of the Earth, edited by Frantz Fanon and Constance Farrington, p. 255. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Scheper-Hughes, Nancy; and Philippe I. Bourgois. (2004) Violence in War and Peace : Edited by Nancy Scheper-Hughes and Philippe Bourgois. Blackwell Readers in Anthropology. Oxford: Blackwell.
Shaw, Martin. (2000) The Contemporary Mode of Warfare? Mary Kaldor’s Theory of New Wars. Review of International Political Economy 7:171-80.
Smyth, Marie; and Gillian Robinson. (2001) Researching Violently Divided Societies : Ethical and Methodological Issues. Tokyo ; New York: United Nations University Press ; London : Pluto Press.
Tausig, M. (2004) Culture of Terror – Space of Death: Roger Casement’s Putumayo Report and the Explanation of Terror In Violence in War and Peace : Edited by Nancy Scheper-Hughes and Philippe Bourgois, edited by Nancy Scheper-Hughes and Philippe I. Bourgois, pp. xv, 496 p. Oxford: Blackwell.
Tilly, Charles. (2000) Introduction: Violence Viewed and Reviewed. Social Research 67.
Wallensteen, Peter; and Margareta Sollenberg. (1998) Armed Conflict and Regional Conflict Complexes, 1989-97. Journal of Peace Research 35:621-34.
World Bank/DSF. (2009) Aceh Conflict Monitoring Update. World Bank/Decentralization Support Facility.

Week 5. Identity as source of conflict?
Identity in its various forms – ethnicity, nationalism, race, religion – has frequently been considered as the leading cause of conflict and instability. This weeks looks at the various theories which propose that identity and violent conflict are linked and asks how and when this is so. It asks what is meant by “identity” and whether it is a fixed or constructed category, and whether this matters.

Guiding Questions:
• What role has identity played in theories of CSD?
• How has identity become a mobilizing factor in conflict, and more specifically terrorism?
• Is identity constructed?
• Has development practice constructed “the victim” as an identity?
• Is there a difference between religion and ethnicity?

Essential Readings:
Fearon, James D., D Laitin. (2000) Violence and the Social Construction of Ethnic Identity. International Organization 54.
Kalyvas, Stathis N. (2002) The Ontology of Political Violence: Action and Identity in Civil Wars. Perspectives on Politics 1:475-94.
Khotari, Ammina (2010) “The Framing of the Darfur Conflict in the New York Times:2003-2006” Journalism Studies Vol 11(2):209-224.
Stewart, Francis. (2009) Religion Versus Ethnicity as a Source of Mobilisation: Are There Differences? Oxford: CRISE.
Young, Crawford. (2003) Explaining the Conflict Potential of Ethnicity. In Contemporary Peacemaking, edited by John Darby, Roger MacGinty. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan

Case Study: Bosnia
To get you started see: Susan Woodward’s Balkan Tragedy; Mary Kaldor’s New and Old Wars (sections on Bosnia); Laura Silber and Alan Little’s Death of Yugoslavia.

Additional Readings:
African Rights. (1994) Rwanda : Death, Despair and Defiance. London: African Rights.
Anderson, Benedict R. O’G. (1991) Imagined Communities : Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Rev. and extended ed. London: Verso.
Bennett, Christopher. (1995) Yugoslavia’s Bloody Collapse: Causes, Course and Consequence. New York: New York University Press.
Besancon, Marie L. (2005) Relative Resources: Inequality in Ethnic Wars, Revolutions and Genocides Journal of Peace Research 42.
Bhavnani, Ravi. (2006) Ethnic Norms and Interethnic Violence: Accounting for Mass Participation in the Rwandan Genocide. Journal of Peace Research 43:651-69.
Bowen, John. (1996) The Myth of Ethnic Conflict Journal of Democracy 7.
Burg, Steven L.; and Paul S. Shoup. (1999) The War in Bosnia-Herzegovina: Ethnic Conflict and International Intervention. Armonk: M.E. Sharp.
Campbell, David. (1998) Chapters 1 & 7. In National Deconstruction : Violence, Identity, and Justice in Bosnia, edited by David Campbell, pp. xv,304p. Minneapolis, Minn. ; London: University of Minneapolis Press.
Collett, Moya. (2006) Ivorian Identity Constructions: Ethnicity and Nationalism in the Prelude to Civil War. Nations and Nationalism 12.
Devare, Aparna. (2009) Secularizing Religion: Hindu Extremism as a Modernist Discourse. International Political Sociology 3:156-75.
Eldringham, Nigel. (2004) Accounting for Horror: Post Genocide Debates in Rwanda. Vancouver: Pluto Press.
Eller, J; and R Coughlan. (1993) The Poverty of Primordialism: The Demystification of Ethnic Attachments. Ethnic and Racial Studies 16.
Fearon, James D., D Laitin. (2000) Violence and the Social Construction of Ethnic Identity. International Organization 54.
Fearon, James D.; and David D. Laitin. (2003) Ethnicity, Insurgency, and Civil War. American Political Science Review 97:75-90.
Gurr, Ted Robert. (1993) Minorities at Risk : A Global View of Ethnopolitical Conflicts. Washington, D.C.: United States Institute of Peace Press.
Hoffman, Bruce. (2006) Inside Terrorism. Rev. and expanded ed. New York: Columbia University Press.
Huntington, S. P. (1993) The Clash of Civilizations? Foreign affairs 72:22-49.
Kaldor, Mary. (2007) Chapter 3. In Human Security, edited by Mary Kaldor, pp. ix, 228 p. Cambridge: Polity.
Kalyvas, Stathis N. (2001) ‘New’ and ‘Old’ Civil Wars: A Valid Distinction? World Politics 54:99-118.
Kaufman, Stuart J. (2001) Chapter 1 – Stories About Ethnic War and Chapter 2 – the Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War. In The Symbolic Politics of Ethnic War, edited by Stuart J. Kaufman. New York: Cornell University Press.
Lake, David A.; and Donald Rothchild. (1996) Containing Fear: The Origins and Management of Ethnic Conflict. International Security 21.
Mamdani, Mahmood. (2002) When Victims Become Killers : Colonialism, Nativism, and the Genocide in Rwanda. Princeton, N.J. ; Oxford: Princeton University Press.
Mann, Michael. (2005) Chapter 1 – the Argument In The Dark Side of Democracy : Explaining Ethnic Cleansing, edited by Michael Mann, pp. x, 580 p. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Mueller, John. (2000) The Banality of Ethnic War. International Security 25.
Sageman, Marc. (2008) Leaderless Jihad : Terror Networks in the Twenty-First Century. Philadelphia, Pa.: University of Pennsylvania Press ; Bristol : University Presses Marketing [distributor].
Tilly, Charles. (2003) The Politics of Collective Violence. Cambridge Studies in Contentious Politics. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Turton, David. (1997) War and Ethnicity : Global Connections and Local Violence. Studies on the Nature of War. Rochester, N.Y.: University of Rochester Press.
Walker, Brian M. (2007) Ancient Enmities and Modern Conflict: History and Politics in Modern Ireland. Nationalism and Ethnic Politics 13.

Week 6. Economic sources of conflict?
The occurrence of violent conflict is often attributed to economic factors. This week provides a introduction to the various approaches to the topic. Specifically it looks at (i) natural resources as cause of conflict (ii) the political economy of war and (iii) globalization & trade as source of conflict. The majority of the focus will be on the first two, as we will return to the third in more depth in Part III of the course.

Guiding Questions:
• Do natural resources cause conflict? In scarcity or abundance? Is war a resource?
• What role does the “grey economy” play in conflict and peace?
• Is the “greed vs. grievance” framework useful?
• Do root causes matter?

Essential Readings:
Andreas, Peter. (2004) ‘The Clandestine Political Economy of War and Peace in Bosnia’ in International Studies Quarterly 48:29-51.
Cramer, Christopher (2006) Pp. 108-138 in Civil Wa r is not a Stupid Thing
Le Billon, Philippe. (2007) Geographies of War: Perspectives on ‘Resource Wars’. Geography Compass 1:163-82.
Murshed, Syed Mansoob and Mohammad Zulfan Tadjoeddin. (2009) ‘Revisiting the Greed and Grievance Explanations for Violent Conflict’ in Journal of International Development Vol 21:87-111.
Woodward, Susan L. (2007) “Do the Root Causes of Civil War Matter” Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding Vol 1(2): 143-170.

…and if you want to see where the controversy started Collier, Paul and Anke Hoeffler (2004) “Greed and Grievance in Civil War” OEP Vol.56:563-595.

Case Study: West Africa
To get started see…Will Reno’s Warlord Politics and African States; Collier et al.’s Understanding Civil War Volume 1: Africa (on order); Philippe LeBillon (2003) “The Political Ecology of War and Resource Exploitation” Studies in Political Economy Vol 70(Spring):59-95.

Additional Resources:
Aspinall, Edward. (2009) Combatants to Contractors: The Political Economy of Peace in Aceh. Indonesia 87:1-34.

Aspinall, Edward. (2007) The Construction of Grievance: Natural Resources and Identity in a Separatist Conflict. Journal of Conflict Resolution 51:950-72.
Ballentine, Karen; and Heiko Nitzschke. (2004) Profiting from Peace : Managing the Resource Dimensions of Civil War. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner.
Bannon, Ian; and Paul Collier. (2003) Natural Resources and Violent Conflict : Options and Actions. Washington, D.C.: World Bank.
Berdal, Mats; and David Keen. (1997) Violence and Economic Agendas in Civil Wars. Millennium – Journal of International Studies 26.
Boas, Morton. (2001) Liberia and Sierra Leone – Deadringers? The Logic of Neo-Patrimonial Rule. Third World Quarterly 22.
Collier, Paul. (2000) Doing Well out of War: An Economic Perspective. In Greed and Grievance: Economic Agendas in Civil Wars, edited by Mats Berdal and David Malone. Boulder: Lynne Reinner.
Cramer, Christopher Dr. (2002) Homo Economicus Goes to War: Methodological Individualism, Rational Choice and the Political Economy of War. World Development 30.
Deudney, Daniel. (1990) The Case against Linking Environmental Degradation and National Security. Millennium – Journal of International Studies 19.
Diamond, Jared M. (2005) Collapse : How Societies Choose to Fail or Survive. London: Allen Lane.
Duffield, Mark. (1998) Post-Modern Conflict: Warlords, Post-Adjustment States and Private Protection. Civil Wars 1.
———. (2000) Globalization, Transborder Trade and War Economies. In Greed and Grievance : Economic Agendas in Civil Wars, edited by Mats R. Berdal and David M. Malone. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Felbab-Brown, Vanda. (2006) Kicking the Opium Habit? Afghanistan’s Drug Economy and Politics since the 1980s. Conflict, Security & Development 6.
Ferguson, James. (2005) Seeing Like an Oil Company: Space, Security, and Global Capital in Neoliberal Africa. American Anthropologist 107:377-82.
Giustozzi, Antonio. (2007) War and Peace Economies of Afghanistan’s Strong Men. International Peacekeeping 14.
Goodhand, Jonathan. (2003) Enduring Disorder and Persistent Poverty: A Review of the Linkages between War and Chronic Poverty. World Development 31.
Haugh, W.; and T. Ellingsen. (1998) Beyond Environmental Scarcity: Causal Pathways to Conflict. Journal of Peace Research 35.
Hirsch, John L. (2001) War in Sierra Leone. Survival 43.
Homer-Dixon, Thomas F. (1999) Environment, Scarcity, and Violence. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press.
———. (1999) Environmental Scarcity and Violence. Princeton University Press.
Kalyvas, Stathis N. (2001) ‘New’ and ‘Old’ Civil Wars: A Valid Distinction? World Politics 54:99-118.
Karl, Terry. (1997) Paradox of Plenty: Oil Booms and Petrol States. Berkeley: University of California.
Keen, David. (1997) A Rational Kind of Madness. Oxford Development Studies 25.
———. (2008) Chapters 2 & 3 In Complex Emergencies, edited by David Keen, pp. viii, 293 p. Cambridge: Polity.
Kolko, Gabriel. (1994) Century of War : Politics, Conflicts, and Society since 1914. New York: New Press.
Krueger, Alan B. (2008) What Makes a Terrorist : Economics and the Roots of Terrorism. Princeton, N.J. ; Woodstock: Princeton University Press.
Le Billon, Philippe. (2000) The Political Economy of War : What Relief Agencies Need to Know. London: Humanitarian Practice Network.
———. (2000) The Political Economy of War : An Annotated Bibliography. Overseas Development Institute, Humanitarian Policy Group.
———. (2001) Fuelling War or Buying Peace : The Role of Corruption in Conflicts. Wider Discussion Paper, 1609-5774. Helsinki: UNU World Institute for Development Economics Research.
———. (2005) Geopolitics of Resource Wars : Resource Dependence, Governance and Violence. Cass Studies in Geopolitics, 1466-7940. London: Frank Cass.
———. (2005) Fuelling War: Natural Resources and Armed Conflict. In Adelphi Papers. London: IISS.
Malaquias, Assis. (2001) Diamonds Are a Guerillas Best Friend: The Impact of Illicit Wealth on Insurgency Strategy. Third World Quarterly 22.
Marten, Kimberly. (2006-7) Warlordism in Comparative Perspective. International Security 31.
Nordstrom, Carolyn. (2004) Shadows of War : Violence, Power, and International Profiteering in the Twenty-First Century. California Series in Public Anthropology. Berkeley: University of California Press.
OECD DAC. (2008) Introduction and Chapter 1 In Resource Flows to Fragile and Conflict-Affected States, edited by OECD DAC. Paris: OECD DAC.
Regan, Patrick M. (2005) Green, Grievance and Mobilization in Civil Wars. Journal of Conflict Resolution 49.
Reno, William. (2000) Shadow States and the Political Economy of Civil Wars. In Greed and Grievance: Economic Agendas in Civil Wars, edited by Mats Berdal and David Malone. Boulder: Lynne Reiner.
Ross, Mark. (2004) How Does Natural Resource Wealth Influence Civil Wars? Evidence from 13 Cases. International Organization.
Ross, Michael L. (2004) What Do We Know About Natural Resources and Civil War. Journal of Peace Research 4.
Selby, Jan. (2003) Water, Power and Politics in the Middle East : The Other Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. Library of Modern Middle East Studies. London: I. B. Tauris.
———. (2005) The Geopolitics of Water in the Middle East: Fantasies and Realities. Third World Quarterly 26:329-49.
Sen, Amartya. (2008) Violence, Identity and Poverty. Journal of Peace Research 45.
Stewart, Frances; and E. V. K. Fitzgerald. (2001) War and Underdevelopment. Volume 1, the Economic and Social Consequences of Conflict. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Suhrke, Astri. (1994) Environmental Degradation and Populations Flows. Journal of International Affairs 47.
UNEP. (2007) Sudan: Post-Conflict Environmental Assessment
Vinci, Anthony. (2006) Greed-Grievance Reconsidered: The Role of Power and Survival in the Motivation of Armed Groups. Civil Wars 8.
Walter, Barbara F. (2004) Does Conflict Begat Conflict? Explaining Recurring Civil War. Journal of Peace Research 41.
Walton, John; and Seddon David. Free Markets & Food Riots. OXFORD: BLACKWELL (1994) P. 1-22.
Zack-Williams, Alfred B. (1999) Sierra Leone: The Political Economy of Civil War 1991-98. Third World Quarterly 20.

Week 7: Essay Preparation Workshop
This class will brief you on what is expected from your end of term essay, introduce you to common mistakes and give you peer-to-peer feedback on your essay outline. You will need to bring copies of your outline to class. Please read Annex 2 for details.

Part III: Considering the Solutions

This third part of the course steps back from the contemporary CSD problematique in order to interrogate its underlying assumptions regarding development, war, security, and international relations. It does so through an examination of 3 contemporary approaches to CSD.

Week 8. Who’s responsibility to protect? Defining State Failure and Refining State-building

Problems of violent conflict and insecurity are commonly blamed on the condition of the state in question be it “weak”, “failed” or “fragile”. This week looks at how the discourse of state failure has evolved, and with it, the practice of “statebuilding”. It examines what constitutes a “state” and how this differs from a nation; the ubiquity of “institution building” in international assistance and the associated ideas of “good” and “democratic” governance. It interrogates the emerging benchmarks such as elections and the underlying normative consensus of what constitutes a legitimate state.

Guiding questions:
• When has a state failed? According to whom?
• Should non-democratic governance arrangements be considered as legitimate? Whose responsibility is it to protect?
• Can state building be separated from peace building? From nation building? Can states be built or do they need to evolve?
• Do current theories of state-building underplay the historic role played by violence in the state building process?
• If it’s all about micro-politics, where is the room for the state?

Essential Reading:
Brooks, Rosa Ehrenreich (2005) “Failed States, or the State as Failure” University of Chicago Law Review Vol 72(4): 1159-1196.
Call, Charles T. (2010) “Beyond the ‘failed state’: Toward conceptual alternatives” EJIR Vol 20(10): 1-24.
Jackson, Robert. (1990) Chapter 1 in Quasi-States: Sovereignty, IR and the Third World Cambridge: CUP.
Paris, Roland. (2010) “Saving liberal peacebuilding” Review of International Studies Vol 36:337-365
Tilly, Charles. (1990) Chapter 4 in Coercion, Capital, and European States, A.D.990-1990. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.

Also have a look at
DFID. (2009) Building the State and Securing the Peace. London: DFID available at http://www.gsdrc.org/docs/open/CON64.pdf (accessed August 11, 2010)
International Coalition for the Responsibility to Protect at http://www.responsibilitytoprotect.org/ (accessed August 11, 2010)

Case Study: East Timor
To get you started see chapters in Jennifer Milliken’s State failure, collapse and reconstruction; Dominic Zaum’s The Sovereignty Paradox and Roland Paris’ At War’s End

Additional Readings:
Barnett, Michael. (1997) Bringing in the New World Order: Liberalism, Legitimacy and the United Nations. World Politics 49.
Barnett, Michael N.; and Raymond Duvall. (2005) Power in Global Governance. Cambridge Studies in International Relations: Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2005.
Beck, Ulrich. Neither Order nor Peace. Common Knowledge 11:1-11.
Call, Charles; and Vanessa Wyeth. (2008) Building States to Build Peace. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner ; London : Eurospan [distributor].
Campbell, David. (1998) Chapters 1 & 7. In National Deconstruction : Violence, Identity, and Justice in Bosnia, edited by David Campbell, pp. xv,304p. Minneapolis, Minn. ; London: University of Minneapolis Press.
Carothers, Thomas. (2007) The Sequencing Fallacy. Journal of Democracy 18.
Chandler, David. (2006) Chapters 2 & 3 In Empire in Denial : The Politics of State-Building, edited by David Chandler, pp. xii, 221 p. London: Pluto.
Chesterman, Simon. (2004) Intro & Chapter 4 In You, the People : The United Nations, Transitional Administration, and State-Building. Simon Chesterman, edited by Simon Chesterman, pp. xx, 296 p. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.
Chetail, Vincent. (2009) Post-Conflict Peacebuilding : A Lexicon. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Collier, Paul. (2009) Wars, Guns, and Votes : Democracy in Dangerous Places. London: Bodley Head.
Debrix, Francois. (1999) Re-Envisioning Peacekeeping : The United Nations and the Mobilization of Ideology. Borderlines. Minneapolis, Minn. ; London: University of Minnesota Press.
Dobbins, James. (2004) The U.N.’S Role in Nation Building: From the Belgium Congo to Iraq. Survival 46:81-102.
Englebert, Pierre; and Denis M. Tull. (2008) Postconflict Reconstruction in Africa: Flawed Ideas About Failed States. International Security 32:106-39.
Finkelstein, Lawrence S. (1995) What Is Global Governance? . Global Governance 1.
Hay, Colin, Michale Lister, David Marsh. (2006) The State: Theories and Issues. New York: Palgrave Macmillan.
Hurd, Ian. (1999) Legitimacy and Authority in International Politics. International Organization 53.
International Crisis Group. 2008. Crisis Group, the Responsibility to Protect (R2p),
and Sri Lanka. http://www.crisisgroup.org/home/index.cfm?id=5421
Jackson, Robert. (2004) International Engagement in War-Torn Countries. Global Governance 10:21-36.
Jahn, Beate. (2007) The Tragedy of Liberal Diplomacy: Democratization, Intervention, Statebuilding (Part I). Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 1:87-106.
———. (2007) The Tragedy of Liberal Diplomacy: Democratization, Intervention, Statebuilding (Part Ii). Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding 1:211-29.
Jones, Branwen Gruffydd (2008) “The Global Political Economy of Social Crisis: Towards a critique of the ‘failed state’ ideology” Review of International Political Economy Vol. 15(2):180-205l.
Kant, Immanuel. (1990) Perpetual Peace: A Philosophical Sketch. In Political Writings, edited by Immanuel Kant and Hans Reiss, p. [288] p. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Kaplan, Seth (2010) “Rethinking State-building in a Failed State” The Washington Quarterly Vol 33(1):81-97.
Latour, Bruno. Whose Cosmos, Which Cosmopolitics? Common Knowledge 10:450-62.
Le Billion, Philippe (2008) “Corrupting Peace? Peacebuilding and Post-conflict Corruption” International Peacekeeping Vol 15(3):344-361
Milliken, Jennifer. (2003) State Failure, Collapse and Reconstruction. Development and Change Book Series. Oxford: Blackwell.
OECD DAC. (2007) Principles for Good International Engagement in Fragile States and Situations. Paris: OECD DAC.
———. (2008) Introduction and Chapter 1 In Resource Flows to Fragile and Conflict-Affected States, edited by OECD DAC. Paris: OECD DAC.
———. (2009) Preventing Violence, War and State Collapse: The Future of Conflict Early Warning and Response.
Paris, Roland. (2000) Broadening the Study of Peace Operations. International Studies Review 2:27-44.
———. (2006) At War’s End: Building Peace after Civil Conflict. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Pouligny, Béatrice,Simon Chesterman; and Albrecht Schnabel. (2007) After Mass Crime : Rebuilding States and Communities. Tokyo: United Nations University Press.
Reno, William. (2004) The Privitization of Sovereignty and the Survival of Weak States In Privatizing the States, edited by Beatrice Hibou. London: Hirst.
Richmond, Oliver P. (2008) “Reclaiming Peace in International Relations” Millennium Vol 36:439-470.
Richmond, Oliver P. and Jason Franks (2009) Liberal Peace Transitions: Between Statebuilding and Peacebuilding. Edinburgh: EUP. (good case studies – book is on order)
Roodman, David. (2007) Macro Aid Effectiveness Research: A Guide for the Perplexed. In Working Paper: Center for Global Development.
Rotberg, Robert I. (2002) “The new nature of the nation state discourse” Washington Quarterly Vol. 25(3).
Smillie, Ian. (1997) NGOs and Development Assistance: A Change in Mind-Set? Third World Quarterly 18:563-77.
Trudeau, Dan and Luisa Veronais (2009) “Enacting State Restructuring: NGOs as ‘translation mechanisms’ EPD: Society and Space Vol 27(6):1117-1134.
Vincent, Andrew. (1987) Theories of the State. Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Walls, Michael (2009) “The Emergence of a Somali State: Building Peace From Civil War in Somaliland” in African Affairs pp. 1-19.
Zizek, Slavoj. (2008) Chapter 5 – Tolerance as an Ideological Category. In Violence, edited by Slavoj Zizek. London: Profile Books

Week 9: Conflict is elsewhere – the construction of the “third world”; and the changing dynamics of aid

This week looks at the construction of geographical and functional categories associated with the practice of “international development assistance”. In particular it draws upon post-colonial critiques of the construction of the “third world” and frameworks and campaigns such as “structural adjustment”, “poverty eradication”, the “Millennium Development Goals” as conditions which are external and “Other” to a developed Global North. It examines how these paradigms are(n)’t being challenging by the rise of so-called ‘emerging donors’

Guiding Questions:
• What is the “third world” and how is it constructed? How has it, in turn constructed the “First World”
• Is CSD a “North-South” issue? How is this changing?
• What does the behaviour of ‘emerging donors’ tell us about the nature of development cooperation?
• What place do conflict and security concerns play in the ‘emerging donors’ agenda.

Essential Readings:
Adelman, Carol (2009) “Global Philanthropy and Remittances: Reinventing Foreign Aid” Brown Journal of World Affairs Vol 15(2):23-33.
Ayoob, Mohammed. (2004) Third World Perspectives on Humanitarian Intervention and International Administration. Global Governance 10:99-118.
Escobar, Arturo. (1994) Chapter 2 in Encountering Development : The Making and Unmaking of the Third World. Princeton Studies in Culture/Power/History. Princeton, N.J. ; Chichester: Princeton University Press.
Kapoor, Ilan (2008) Chapter 5 in The Postcolonial Politics of Development Oxon: Routledge.

PLUS two of the following depending on your interest:
Mawsdley, Emma and Gerard McCann (2010) “The Elephant in the Corner? Reviewing India-Africa Relations in the New Millennium” Geography Compass Vol 4(2):81-93
Raposo, Pedro Amakasu and David M. Potter (2010) “Chinese and Japanese development co-operation: South-South, North-South, or what?” Journal of Contemporary African Studies Vol 28(2):177-202.
White, Lyal (2010) “Understanding Brazil’s new drive for Africa” South African Journal of International Affairs Vol 17(2):221-242

Case Study: China in Africa
To get you started read Brautigam, Deborah (2010) China, Africa and the International Aid Architecture ABD Working Paper Series No. 107; Alden, Chris (2005) “China in Africa” Survival Vol. 47(3):147-164.; Brautigam, Deborah (2009) The dragon’s gift the real story of China in Africa Oxford: OUP.

Additional Readings:
Alesina, Alberto; and David Dollar. (2000) Who Gives Foreign Aid to Whom and Why? Journal of Economic Growth 5:33-63.
Alden, Chris (2005) “China in Africa” Survival Vol. 47(3):147-164.
Ayoob, Mohammed. (1995) The Third World Security Predicament : State Making, Regional Conflict, and the International System. Emerging Global Issues. Boulder, Colo. ; London: Lynne Rienner.
Bankoff, Gregory. (2001) Rendering the World Unsafe: ‘Vulnerability’ as Western Discourse. Disasters 25:19-35.
Brautigam, Deborah (2010) China, Africa and the International Aid Architecture ABD Working Paper Series No. 107
Brautigam, Deborah (2009) The dragon’s gift the real story of China in Africa Oxford: OUP.
Brenner, N. (1998) Between Fixity and Motion: Accumulation, Territorial Organization, and the Historical Geography of Spatial Scales. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space 16:459-81.
Cole, Alyson Manda. (2007) The Cult of True Victimhood : From the War on Welfare to the War on Terror. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.
Dahlman, Carl and Gerard Toal. (2005) Broken Bosnia: The Localization of Geopolitics of Displacement and Return in Two Bosnian Places. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 95:644-62.
Doty, Roxanne Lynn. (1996) Imperial Encounters : The Politics of Representation in North-South Relations. Borderlines. Minneapolis ; London: University of Minnesota Press.
Duvall, S. (2007) “Ambassador Mom”: Angelina Jolie, Celebrity Activism, and Institutional Power. In Annual Meeting of the International Communication Association. San Francisco, CA.
Edkins, Jenny. (2000) Sovereign Power, Zones of Indistinction and the Camp. Alternatives 25:3-25.
Elden, Stuart. (2006) Spaces of Humanitarian Exception. Geografiska Annaler, Series B 88:477-85.
Fanon, Frantz; and Constance Farrington. (1969) The Wretched of the Earth. Penguin Books ; No. 2674. Reprinted ed. Harmondsworth: Penguin.
Ferguson, James. (2006) Global Shadows : Africa in the Neoliberal World Order. Durham, N.C. ; London: Duke University Press ;.
Ferguson, James and Akhil Gupta. (2005) Chapter 4 – Spatializing States. In Anthropologies of Modernity edited by Jonathan Xavier Inda. Oxford: Blackwell.
Hinton, Alexander Laban; and Kevin Lewis O’Neill. (2009) Genocide : Truth, Memory, and Representation. Durham [NC] ; London: Duke University Press.
Hodge, Joseph Morgan. (2007) Triumph of the Expert : Agrarian Doctrines of Development and the Legacies of British Colonialism. Ohio University Press Series in Ecology and History. Athens: Ohio University Press.
Hughes, Caroline; and Vanessa Pupavac. (2005) Framing Post-Conflict Societies: International Pathologisation of Cambodia and the Post-Yugoslav States. Third World Quarterly 26:873-89.
Hughes, Rachel. (2007) Through the Looking Blast: Geopolitics and Visual Culture. Geography Compass 1:976-94.
Hyndman, Jennifer. (2000) Managing Displacement : Refugees and the Politics of Humanitarianism. Minneapolis ; London: University of Minnesota Press.
Inayatullah, Naeem and David L. Blaney. (2004) International Relations and the Problem of Difference. New York: Routledge.
Jeffrey, Alex. (2007) The Geopolitical Framing of Localized Struggles: NGOs in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Development and Change 38:251-74.
Kothari, U. (2005) Authority and Expertise: The Professionalisation and the Ordering of Dissent. Antipode:425-46.
Kothari, Uma. (2006) Spatial Practices and Imaginaries: Experiences of Colonial Officers and Development Professionals. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography 27:235-53.
Lambert, David and Alan Lester. (2004) Geographies of Colonial Philanthropy. Progress in Human Geography 28:320-41.
Landau, Loren B. (2006) Immigration and the State of Exception: Security and Sovereignty in East and Southern Africa. Millennium – Journal of International Studies 34:325-48.
Low, Setha M. (2001) The Edge and the Center: Gated Communities and the Discourse of Urban Fear. American Anthropologist 103:45-58.
Mabee, Bryan. (2009) Chapter 5. In The Globalization of Security : State Power, Security Provision and Legitimacy, edited by Bryan Mabee, pp. viii, 205 p. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
Malkki, Liisa H. (1996) Speechless Emissaries: Refugees, Humanitarianism, and Dehistoricization. Cultural Anthropology 11:377-404.
Mamdani, Mahmood. (2007) The Politics of Naming: Genocide, Civil War, Insurgency. In London Review of Books. London.
McKinnon, Katharine. (2007) Postdevelopment, Professionalism, and the Politics of Participation. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 97:772-85.
McQueen, Carol (2005) Humanitarian Intervention and Safety Zones: Iraq, Bosnia, and Rwanda. Rethinking Peace and Conflict Studies Palgrave Macmillan.
Mitchell, Timothy. (2002) Rule of Experts : Egypt, Techno-Politics, Modernity. Berkeley, Calif. ; London: University of California Press.
Moeller, Susan D. (1999) Compassion Fatigue : How the Media Sell Disease, Famine, War, and Death. New York ; London: Routledge.
Moulin, Carolina, and Peter Nyers. (2007) “We Live in a Country of UNHCR” – Refugee Protests and Global Political Society. International Political Sociology 1:357-72.
Perkins, Richard and; and Eric Neumayer. (2008) Extra-Territorial Interventions in Conflict Spaces: Explaining the Geographies of Post-Cold War Peacekeeping. Political Geography.
Rozario, Kevin. (2003) “Delicious Horrors”: Mass Culture, the Red Cross, and the Appeal of Modern American Humanitarianism. American Quarterly 55:417.
Said, Edward W. (1995)Orientalism. Penguin History. Repr. with a new afterword. ed. London: Penguin.
Scott, David. (2005) Chapter 1 – Colonial Governmentality. In Anthropologies of Modernity edited by Jonathan Xavier Inda. Oxford: Blackwell.
Scott, James C. (1985) Weapons of the Weak : Everyday Forms of Peasant Resistance. New Haven ; London: Yale University Press.
Selby, J. (2002) Dressing up Domination As “Cooperation”: The Case of Israeli-Palestinian Water Relations. Review of International Studies 29:121-38.
Slater, David. (1997) Geopolitical Imaginations across the North-South Divide: Issues of Difference, Development and Power. Political Geography 16:631-53.
Smillie, Ian. (2001) Patronage or Partnership : Local Capacity Building in Humanitarian Crises. Bloomfield, Conn.: Kumarian Dress.
Sylvester, Christine. (2006) Bare Life as a Development/Post-Colonial Problematic. The Geographic Journal 172:66-77.
Wacquant, Loic J. D. (2008) Urban Outcasts : A Comparative Sociology of Advanced Marginality. Cambridge: Polity.
Walker, RBJ. (1997) The Subject of Security. In Critical Security Studies : Concepts and Cases, edited by Keith Krause and Michael C. Williams, pp. xxiv, 379p. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

Week 10: Aid as part of the problem?
From humanitarian assistance to peace-keeping to development and financial assistance, international aid is presented as the solution to underdevelopment, conflict and insecurity. However increasingly, aid is seen as problematic for a series of reasons. As we have seen, at the macro level, the structures of international assistance may be seen as both creating and reinforcing power imbalances between the Global North and South. At the micro level, the resource of aid and its various externalities may contribute to changing the societal dynamic in a way which increases the propensity for conflict or protracts existing ones.

This week will review these arguments and look at recent trends in CSD which have seen the introduction and evolution of development to incorporate security concerns. On the one hand, the “human security agenda” has expanded the idea of “security” into traditionally non-securitized aspects of assistance such as poverty reduction and education. Simultaneously, on the other hand, the expansion of military operations into areas such as rural reconstruction in Afghanistan and the increased use of civil-military partnerships has brought military actors into the domain traditionally occupied by aid agencies. This week looks at these trends and asks what is the future of CSD? It brings our discussions full circle by examining the approaches to counter-insurgency currently being used by Western forces in Afghanistan – methods which are strikingly similar to those which have been used by development practitioners over the last two decades.

Guiding Questions:
• What is the Human Security Agenda? Has it changed development assistance?
• Have understandings of security changed over the last century? For whom?
• Can humanitarian and military organizations work together? Does it affect the safety of aid workers?
• Does the provision of aid make conflict/insecurity more or less likely in a given society? How so?
• How does the organizational culture/approaches of humanitarianism frame discussions of CSD and effect outcomes?

Essential Readings:
Anderson, Mary B. (1999) Chapter 5 in Do No Harm : How Aid Can Support Peace–or War, edited by Mary B. Anderson. Boulder, Colo.: Lynne Rienner Publishers.
Duffield, Mark R. (2007) Chapter 5 – Human Security and Global Danger In Development, Security and Unending War : Governing the World of Peoples, edited by Mark R. Duffield, pp. xii, 266 p. Cambridge: Polity.
Easterly, William. (2002) The Cartel of Good Intentions: The Problem of Bureaucracy in Foreign Aid Policy Reform 5:223-50.
Fast, Larissa A. (2010) “Mind the Gap: Documenting and explaining violence against aid workers” EJIR Vol 20(10):1-25.
Lischer, Sarah Kenyon. (2007) Military Intervention and the Humanitarian “Force Multiplier”. Global Governance 13:99-118.
Marriage, Zoe (2010) “Congo Co: aid and security” Conflict, Security and Development Vol 10(3):353-377

Case Study: Afghanistan in the context of British Development Policy
Have a look at news reports and websites such as The UK’s Stabilisation Unit http://www.stabilisationunit.gov.uk/ and statements by DFID and the Ministry of Defense.

Additional Readings (policy documents):
Human Security Center. 2005. Human Security Report 2005: War and Peace in the 21st Century http://www.humansecurityreport.org/index.php?option=content&task=view&id=28&Itemid=63
The UK Approach to Stabilisation (2008) UK Stabilisation Unit http://www.stabilisationunit.gov.uk/index.php/about-us/key-documents/62-stabilisation-guides/105-stabilisation-guidance-note-executive-summary (accessed August 11, 2010)
UNDP Human Security Report (1994) http://hdr.undp.org/en/reports/global/hdr1994/chapters/ (accessed August 12, 2010)
US Army (2006) Counterinsurgency. http://www.usgcoin.org/library/doctrine/COIN-FM3-24.pdf

Additional Readings (on the problems with aid):
Andreas, Peter (2009) “Symbiosis Between Peace Operations and Illicit Business in Bosnia” International Peacekeeping Vol. 16(1):33-46.
Bebbington, A.; and U. Kothari. (2006) Transnational Development Networks. Environment and Planning A 38:849-66.
Berrios, Ruben. (2000) Contracting for Development : The Role of for-Profit Contractors in U.S. Foreign Development Assistance. Westport, Conn: Praeger.
Brinkley, Joel. April 8, 2006 “Give Rebuilding Lower Priority in Future Wars”. New York Times.
Campbell, David. (1999) Apartheid Cartography: The Political Anthropology and Spatial Effects of International Diplomacy in Bosnia. Political Geography 18:395-435.
Carnahan, Michael,William Durch; and Scott Gilmore. (2006) Economic Impact of Peacekeeping. Peace Dividend Trust.
Cooley, Alexander; and James Ron. (2002) The NGO Scramble: Organizational Insecurity and the Political Economy of Transnational Action. International Security 27:5-39.
Cronin, Bruce; and Ian Hurd. (2008) The UN Security Council and the Politics of International Authority. Security and Governance. London: Routledge.
CSIS, Association of the US Army (2002) Post-Conflict Reconstruction Task Framework. CSIS and Association of the US Army
Drury, A. Cooper,Richard Stuart Olson; and Douglas A. Van Belle. (2005) The Politics of Humanitarian Aid: U.S. Foreign Disaster Assistance, 1964 – 1995. Journal of Politics 67:454-73.
Easterly, William Russell. (2006) The White Man’s Burden : Why the West’s Efforts to Aid the Rest Have Done So Much Ill and So Little Good. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Eide, Espen Barth,Anja Therese Kaspersen,Randolph C. Kent; and Karen von Hippel. (2005) Report on Integrated Missions: Practical Perspectives and Recommendations
Feinstein International Famine Center, and International Alert. (2001) The Politicisation of Humanitarian Action and Staff Security: The Use of Private Security Companies by Humanitarian Agencies. In The Politicisation of Humanitarian Action and Staff Security: The Use of Private Security Companies by Humanitarian Agencies. Tufts University, Boston.
Ghosh, Amitav. (1994) The Global Reservation: Notes toward an Ethnography of International Peacekeeping. Cultural Anthropology 9:412-22.
Harmer, Adele; and Lin Cotterrell. (2005) Diversity in Donorship: The Changing Landscape of Official Humanitarian Aid. London: Overseas Development Institute.
Higate, Paul. (2007) Peacekeepers, Masculinities, and Sexual Exploitation. Men and Masculinities 10:99-119.
Higate, Paul; and Marsha Henry. (2004) Engendering (in)Security in Peace Support Operations. Security Dialogue 35:481-98.
Hoffman, Danny. (2004) The Civilian Target in Sierra Leone and Liberia: Political Power, Military Strategy, and Humanitarian Intervention. Afr Aff (Lond) 103:211-26.
Hoogvelt, Ankie. (2006) Globalization and Post-Modern Imperialism. Globalizations 3:159-74.
Keen, David. (2008) Chapter 6 – Aid In Complex Emergencies, edited by David Keen, pp. viii, 293 p. Cambridge: Polity.
Kennedy, David. (2004) The Dark Sides of Virtue : Reassessing International Humanitarianism. Princeton N.J. ; Oxford : Princeton University Press c2004.
Kenny, Sue. (2005) Reconstruction in Aceh: Building Whose Capacity? . Community Development Journal 42:206-21.
Kilcullen, David. (2009) The Accidental Guerrilla : Fighting Small Wars in the Midst of a Big One. Oxford ; New York: Oxford University Press.
Kothari, U. (2005) Authority and Expertise: The Professionalisation and the Ordering of Dissent. Antipode:425-46.
Kothari, Uma. (2006) Spatial Practices and Imaginaries: Experiences of Colonial Officers and Development Professionals. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography 27:235-53.
Kuperman, Alan J. (2008) Mitigating the Moral Hazard of Humanitarian Intervention: Lessons from Economics. Global Governance 14:219-40.
Lepard, Brian D. (2002) Rethinking Humanitarian Intervention : A Fresh Approach Based on Fundamental Ethical Principles in International Law and World Religions. University Park, Pa.: Pennsylvania State University Press ; London : Eurospan.
Lewis, I. M. . (2001) Why the Warlords Won. Times Literary Supplement.
Lipson, Michael. (2007) Peacekeeping: Organized Hypocrisy? European Journal of International Relations 13:5-34.
Lischer, Sarah Kenyon. (2003) Collateral Damage: Humanitarian Assistance as a Cause of Conflict. International Security 28:79-109.
Marriage, Zoe. (2006) Not Breaking the Rules, Not Playing the Game, International Assistance to Countries at War. London: Hurst & Co,; Palgrave & Macmillan.
McKinnon, Katharine. (2007) Postdevelopment, Professionalism, and the Politics of Participation. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 97:772-85.
Moyo, Dambisa. (2009) Why Aid Is Not Working and How There Is Another Way for Africa. London: Allen Lane.
Noxolo, Patricia. (2006) Claims: A Postcolonial Geographical Critique of ‘Partnership’ in Britain’s Development Discourse. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography 27:254-69.
OECD DAC. (2007) Principles for Good International Engagement in Fragile States and Situations. Paris: OECD DAC.
Pandolfi, Mariella. (2003) Contract of Mutual (in)Difference: Governance and the Humanitarian Apparatus in Contemporary Albania and Kosovo. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies 10:369-82.
Roodman, David. (2007) Macro Aid Effectiveness Research: A Guide for the Perplexed. In Working Paper: Center for Global Development.
Rozario, Kevin. (2003) “Delicious Horrors”: Mass Culture, the Red Cross, and the Appeal of Modern American Humanitarianism. American Quarterly 55:417.
Rubin, Barnett R. (2006) Peace Building and State-Building in Afghanistan: Constructing Sovereignty for Whose Security? Third World Quarterly 27:175-85.
Rubinstein, Robert A. (2005) Intervention and Culture: An Anthropological Approach to Peace Operations. Security Dialogue 36:527-44.
Slim, Hugo. (2004) How We Look: Hostile Perceptions of Humanitarian Action. In Conference on Humanitarian Coordination. Wilton Park Montreux.
Smirl, Lisa. (2008) Building the Other, Constructing Ourselves: Spatial Dimensions of International Humanitarian Response. International Political Sociology 2:236-53.
Spees, Pam. (2004) Gender, Justice and Accountability in Peace Support Operations London: International Alert.
Stoddard, Abby,Adele Harmer; and Victoria DiDomenico. (2008) The Use of Private Security Providers. London: Humanitarian Policy Group.
———. (2009) Private Security Contracting in Humanitarian Operations. London: Humanitarian Policy Group.
Templeman, Jon. (2008) Humanitarian Aid Politicized. In Policy Innovations: Carnegie Council
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (2003) Sexual and Gender-Based Violence against Refugees, Returnees and Internally Displaced Persons: Guidelines for Prevention and Response. Geneva: UNHCR.
Weiss, Thomas George; and Cindy Collins. (2000) Chapter 5 – Main Actors, Humanitarian Challenges and Intervention. Dilemmas in World Politics. 2nd ed. ed. Boulder, Colo. ; Oxford: Westview Press.
Whitworth, Sandra. (2004) Men, Militarism, and UN Peacekeeping : A Gendered Analysis. Critical Security Studies. Boulder, Colo. ; London: Lynne Rienner.

Additional Readings (on human security and the merging of development and military concerns):
Basaran, Tugba. (2008) Security, Law, Borders: Spaces of Exclusion. International Political Sociology 2:339-54.
Bauman, Zygmunt. (2000) Community : Seeking Safety in an Insecure World. Polity.
Bigo, Didier. (2006) Protection: Security, Territory and Population. In The Politics of Protection : Sites of Insecurity and Political Agency, edited by Jef Huysmans, Andrew Dobson and Raia Prokhovnik, pp. 84-100. London: Routledge.
Blakeley, Ruth. (2009) State Terrorism and Neoliberalism : The North in the South. London: Routledge.
Brahimi, Lakhdar. (2008) Towards a Culture of Security and Accountability. New York: United Nations.
Brinkley, Joel. April 8, 2006 “Give Rebuilding Lower Priority in Future Wars”. New York Times.
Burgess, J. Peter; and Taylor Owen. (2004) Security Dialogue: Special Issue on Human Security (Vol. 35; No. 3). pp. Articles 6 – 27.
Chandler, David. (2008) Theorising the Shift from Security to Insecurity – Kaldor, Duffield, Furedi. Conflict, Security & Development 8:265-76.
Duffield, Mark. (2001) Chapters 1, 2 & 5 Global Governance and the New Wars : The Merging of Development and Security. London: Zed.
Füredi, Frank. (2007) Invitation to Terror : The Expanding Empire of the Unknown. London: Continuum.
Hampson, Fen Osler; and Jean Daudelin. (2001) Madness in the Multitude : Human Security and World Disorder. Toronto, Ont. ; Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Harmer, Adele. (2008) Integrated Missions: A Threat to Humanitarian Security? International Peacekeeping 15:528-39.
House of Commons. (2009) Department of International Development: Operating in Insecure Environments. London: House of Commons.
Hyndman, Jennifer. (2007) The Securitization of Fear in Post-Tsunami Sri Lanka. Annals of the Association of American Geographers 97:361-72.
International Federal of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies. (2007) Stay Safe: The International Federations Guide to a Safer Mission. Geneva: IFRC.
International Peace Institute. (2009) Global Terrorism: Task Forces on Strengthening Multilateral Security Capacity. In IPI Blue Papers: IPI.
Kaldor, Mary. (2007) Chapter 3. In Human Security, edited by Mary Kaldor, pp. ix, 228 p. Cambridge: Polity.
Lischer, Sarah Kenyon. (2007) Military Intervention and the Humanitarian “Force Multiplier”. Global Governance 13:99-118.
Low, Setha M. (2001) The Edge and the Center: Gated Communities and the Discourse of Urban Fear. American Anthropologist 103:45-58.
Nelson, Diane M. (2005) Chapter 9 – Life During Wartime. In Anthropologies of Modernity edited by Jonathan Xavier Inda. Oxford: Blackwell.
Pupuvac, Vanessa. (2005) Human Security and the Rise of Global Therapeutic Governance Conflict, Security & Development 5:161-81.
Report of the Secretary General. (2003) Safety and Security of Humanitarian Personnel and Protection of United Nations Personnel. edited by UN General Assembly. New York: United Nations.
Secretary General’s High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change. (2004) Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change
. New York: United Nations.
Sheik, Mani,Maria Isabel Gutierrez,Paul Bolton,Paul Speigel,Michel Thieren; and Gilbert Burnham. (2000) Deaths among Humanitarian Workers. British Medical Journal 321.
Slim, Hugo. (2003) Humanitarianism with Borders? NGOs, Belligerent Military Forces and Humanitarian Action. In ICVA Conference on NGOs in a Changing World Order: Dilemmas and Challenges. Geneva.
Smith, General Sir Rupert. (2006) The Utility of Force: The Art of War in the Modern World. London: Penguin.
Stoddard, Abby, Adele Harmer, Katherine Haver. (2006) Providing Aid in Insecure Environments: Trends in Policy and Operations. In Humanitarian Policy Group: Overseas Development Institute.
Stoddard, Abby,Adele Harmer; and Katherine Haver. (2009) Providing Aid in Insecure Environments: 2009 Update. In Humanitarian Policy Group: Overseas Development Institute.
Templeman, Jon. (2008) Humanitarian Aid Politicized. In Policy Innovations: Carnegie Council
US Army. (2006) Counterinsurgency.
Van Brabant, Koenraad. (1998) Cool Ground for Aid Providers: Towards Better Security Management in Aid Agencies. Disasters 22:109-25.
———. (2000) Operational Security Management in Violent Environments. In Good Practice Review, edited by ODI. London: HPN.
Vincenzo, Bollettino. (2008) Understanding the Security Management Practices of Humanitarian Organizations. Disasters 32:263-79.
Walker, RBJ. (1997) The Subject of Security. In Critical Security Studies : Concepts and Cases, edited by Keith Krause and Michael C. Williams, pp. xxiv, 379p. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
World Health Organisation. (2002) World Report on Violence and Health. edited by Etienne G Krug and et al. Geneva.
Yamashita, Hikaru. (2004) Humanitarian Space and International Politics : The Creation of Safe Areas. Aldershot ; Burlington, VT: Ashgate.

ANNEX 1

PRESENTATIONS

Groups: Will be announced on Study Direct by Week 2. They will be allocated according to student preferences for specific topics, as much as possible however, the convenor retains the right to make final decisions on group allocation according to international best practice.
Objective & Approach: The objective of the presentation is two fold. First, the group must introduce and familiarize the class to a given case study from within the ‘conflict, development, and security’ literature. Second, the group must critically assess the given case study through the theoretical theme of the given week.
Example: Analyze the recent conflict in South Kyrgyzstan from the perspective of environmental degradation.
This presentation might spend the first 5 minutes giving a brief overview of the conflict, security and development situation in South Kyrgyzstan, focusing on the most pertinent events: in this case, the recent ethnic clashes. It would then move on to demonstrating how theories of environmental degradation would explain these events. For example, climate change has led to a to a reduction of fertile land available for agriculture which has led to an increase in regional migration and demand for land which has broken down along ethnic lines leading to increased inter-ethnic tensions, as recently shown. The last few minutes of the presentation should be used to assess whether the group agrees with this theoretical framework and pointing out any problems or shortcomings that the framework misses. Example: Your team questions whether the ethnic categories used in the mainstream analysis of the conflict are applicable. You feel that they are constructed categories and the violence is the result of conflict over trade routes within the region rather than purely ethnically motivated.
Please note that the presentation should NOT spend time detailing the theoretical positions as these will be discussed in the initial part of the seminar and all students are expected to have done the theoretical readings before coming to class. The focus is on the application of these frameworks.
Format & Supporting Materials:
• Ideally, the group can email handouts and presentation to the convenor at least 24 hours before the presentation. The convenor will then post them on Study Direct and it is the responsibility of individual students to bring a print out to class
• Where this hadn’t been done, the group must provide handouts to the class.
• The content is up to the group, but it should cover the basic points and include a short bibliography of works consulted. It is up to the group to research the topic. There are ample articles available in the library and in the electronic journals on the case studies. Finding and synthesizing this material is part of the task. A ‘notes’ version of the power point presentation is appropriate however, groups may wish to include supplementary material.
• The group is encouraged to use visual aids – either through power point, keynote or overheads. Facilities for power point and overhead are available in most classrooms. Mac users will need to organize the electronic connectivity themselves. In all cases it is up to the group to ensure that they have sufficiently prepared the equipment beforehand so that the presentation runs smoothly.
• The group will have 20 minutes to present followed by 10 minutes of questions. Groups will have a 2 minutes warning. At 20 minutes groups must end their presentations even if they are not done or risk an automatic 10 mark penalty.
• It is up to the group how they divide up the presentation. Each member of the whether they all want to speak. Some people may have a talent for designing presentations, or for doing research rather than public speaking. However at least half the team must present verbally (all may do so if they wish) and those who have not presented must answer at least one question each following the presentation. The presentation must include a final slide which clearly details the roles and responsibilities of each member of the team.
• In the case of problems within the team – for example, one team member not turning up to planning meetings, or failing to do contribute fairly to the groups workload, please send me at email detailing the difficulty, and I will intervene to resolve the problem. Please note that it is not uncommon to have tensions within a group, and dealing with these in a constructive way is part of the task. Particularly in international settings, there will be occasions when you are working with people from very different backgrounds than your own. Being able to constructively negotiate this challenge will be an important part of the skill set that you develop over the course of this MA.

Written Component : To be submitted in class on the day of the presentation
• The class must submit a written portfolio to the convenor composed of:
o a one page description of the teams working method including when they met, who was present, how they decided upon roles, what difficulties they faced and how they resolved them
o All handouts
o A copy of the visual presentation
o A complete bibliography of works consulted, with the most useful works indicated in bold font

Marking Criteria:
1. Substance:
• How well does the presentation identify and present the relevant aspects of the case study?
• How well does the presentation apply the theoretical framework to the case study?
• Has the group identified appropriate literature?
• How have they used this literature? Have they merely described it or have they presented it in a way which demonstrates critical analysis
• Is the team able to answer the questions that are raised in a professional manner?
• Are the materials handed in clear and well written?

2. Presentation
• Is the verbal presentation succinct, clear and easy to understand?
• Is the information included relevant?
• How appropriate are the handouts?
• Are the visual aids and handouts clear and visually appealing? Do they complement or detract from the overall presentation?
• Does the team work together well? Have they fulfilled the criteria that all members contribute?
• Have they stayed within the allocated time?

Marking Criteria for Presentations

Descriptor	AlphaScale	%	Criteria
Excellent	A+	95	This category of marks is given for a flawless presentation both in terms of content and style.  It is of the standard that could be presented in front of a high level professional audience (for example, Chatham House) and should bring to the topic a novel and scintillating approach.  All team members will contribute to the overall presentation. It will stay within the time limit. Questions will be answered in a professional manner.
	A    A-	9085	Such marks are given for an excellent or outstanding presentation. A presentation of this standard will exhibit excellent levels of knowledge, understanding and presentation skills comprising all the qualities stated above, with additional elements of originality and flair. It will exhibit a critical engagement with the material presented and include independent argument regarding the theme, issue or topic being presented. It will be excellently presented in a fluent speaking style supported by excellent visual aids and handouts. All team members will contribute to the overall presentation. It will stay within the time limit. Questions will be answered in a professional manner.
Good	B+BB-	807570	A mark in this range is indicative of a good or very good presentation. A presentation of this quality will show a good level of knowledge and understanding of the material covered. It will be well focussed, show evidence of very thoughtful preparation and a very clear comprehension of the material delivered. The material will be well structured, accurate, very coherently delivered and exhibit high level presentation and speaking skills well supported by good use of clear visual aids and handouts. All team members will contribute to the overall presentation. It will stay within the time limit. Questions will be answered in a professional manner.
Satisfactory	C+CC-	656055	A mark in this range is indicative that the presentation is of a satisfactory to very satisfactory standard. A presentation of this quality will show clear knowledge and understanding of the material covered. It will be focused and show evidence of thoughtful preparation and clear comprehension of the material delivered. The material will be reasonably well structured, coherently presented and exhibit clear speaking skills supported by adequate use of clear visual aids and handouts. There may be some omission of relevant material or limited develop of a topic, theme or argument, it may contain minor factual errors and not all team members may have contributed.  It may be too long or too short.  Team members may have some difficulty dealing with questions from the audience.
Pass	D +DD	504540	A mark in this range is indicative that the presentation meets the minimum standard expected. A presentation of this quality will show limited knowledge and understanding of the material covered. It will show evidence of some preparation and comprehension, but the presentation may be weakly organized and/or cover only a limited range of the relevant material. It may exhibit weak presentation or speaking skills, lack appropriate visual aids and/or handouts and may contain some significant factual errors. Some team members may not have contributed and it may be significantly too short or too long.
Fail	E +E	3515	A mark in this range is indicative that the presentation is below, but at the upper end of the range is approaching, the minimum standard expected. It indicates a weak presentation below the minimum standard expected. This will be because either the presentation is too short, poorly organized, poorly structured and difficult to comprehend, or is poorly focused on the issue, topic or theme required. It will exhibit minimal knowledge or understanding of the material covered and may display very weak presentation or speaking skills, or contain substantial factual errors. Material may be missing.
	F	0	Work not submitted.   Fail.

Annex 2:  Essay Outlines

 You should prepare a one page outline of your essay comprised of a research question (See Annex 2), basic outline and short bibliography for class in Week 7.  On that day, I will be holding an essay writing workshop where you will have the chance to review each others’ outlines, and provide feedback.

You will be asked to assess each others’ outlines according the following criteria.

• Is the research question well formulated?
• Is there a clear argument?
• Is the structure logical and does it work to support the argument?
• Is the bibliography appropriate?
• Is the project viable in a 5000 word essay format?
• What elements/issues need to be included for a well supported argument?
• What pitfalls do you anticipate?

Based on these criteria you will assign a mark to the outline.  Marking sheets will be distributed in class.  Please bring 4 copies of your outline to class (one for you, one for 2 or your peers and one for me). You are strongly encouraged to organize a follow up meeting to discuss your outline with me before embarking on your final essay.

You should use these criteria when formulating your own outlines.  When submitting your final essay, please include a short paragraph, prior to the essay which describes how the feedback you received influenced your work.

Annex 3:

Sample Essay Topics

(please feel free to develop your own)

1. “Experience shows that helping states to become more responsive and supporting durable peace are both fundamental to making progress toward the MDGs.” Discuss.

2. Critique at least 2 of the OECD DAC “Principles for Good International Engagement in Fragile States and Situations” including a discussion of the emergence of the neologism “fragile states and situations”.

3.  A certain degree of corruption is beneficial to post-conflict peace processes. Discuss.

4. Is it possible for aid to “do no harm”?

5. Does migration challenge the established CSD paradigm?

6.  Does CSD contribute the construction of “the victim” as identity category?

7.  Is aid just a continuation of war by other means?

8.  Is development the new counter insurgency?

9.  Can peace building be seen as separate from nation building?

10.  Has humanitarianism changed the nature of war?

11.  Development is inseparable from conflict.  Discuss.

Annex 4:  Essay Marking Criteria

Descriptor	AlphaScale	%	Criteria
Excellent	A+	95	is awarded for work of exceptional quality based on a comprehensive knowledge of the chosen topic, a sustained high level of critical analysis combined with a genuine originality of approach. The essay or dissertation will be tightly argued, meticulously organised, extremely well documented and will approach, in principle, publishable standard.
	A    A-	9085	is awarded when candidates show evidence of extensive relevant reading, a significant grasp of current major issues in the field and offer an original approach to their chosen topic. This knowledge will have been reviewed critically and with sufficient insight to challenge received ideas. The arguments will be clearly and persuasively put.
Good	B+BB-	807570	is awarded when candidates show consistency and fluency in discussing and evaluating evidence and theories from a wide range of sources. They will demonstrate an ability to relate this reading to their chosen topic and will clearly have understood and assimilated the relevant literature. The argument will be clear and well structured.
Satisfactory	C+CC-	656055	is awarded when there is clear evidence of  knowledge and understanding but where ideas, critical comment or methodology are under-developed or oversimplified. There may be room for significant improvement in the clarity and structure of the argument and although there will be appropriate reference to relevant reading, this may not be sufficiently extensive. Some irrelevancy may be present.
Pass	D +DD	504540	This is a pass. It is awarded for work that exhibits some knowledge of the chosen topic, but displays weaknesses of understanding and thoroughness. Arguments will be weakly structured and important information and references may be lacking. There may be a considerable proportion that is irrelevant
Fail	E +E	3515	This indicates a fail. It is awarded to work that is seriously flawed, displaying a lack of awareness of essential texts and incoherent arguments. The research involved may be poorly organised and inadequately discussed, offering a fundamentally inadequate response to the chosen topic. Large parts of the answer may be irrelevant
	F	0	Work not submitted.   Fail.