Humanitarian aid and international politics: new approaches

• Grant number: 12/00730-6
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Visiting Researcher Grant - International
• Start date: May 14, 2012
• End date: June 13, 2012
• Field of knowledge: Humanities - Political Science - International Politics
• Principal Investigator: Reginaldo Mattar Nasser
• Grantee: Reginaldo Mattar Nasser
• Visiting researcher: José Manuel Marques da Silva Pureza
• Visiting researcher institution: Universidade de Coimbra (UC), Portugal
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Sociais. Pontifícia Universidade Católica de São Paulo (PUC-SP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

The main objective of this research project is to identify the most important elements of the new phase of humanitarianism and to analyse the dispositives which have lead its discourse to become hegemonic in international law and in international politics. .One particularly relevant indicator of this new interventionism is the most recent doctrine on peace operations - the so-called Capstone Doctrine - and the articulation it suggests between military operations and humanitarian action. That is, a convergence between soldiers and humanitarians in the field, around a common objective. Within this framework, this research project aims at *Map the debate between the traditional and the new liberal humanitarianism; *Analyze the trajectory of the two main legal concepts that vehicle the so-called "new humanitarian international order": humanitarian intervention and the responsibility to protect; *Put those trajectories within the context of the hegemony meanwhile conquered by the liberal peace project and its expressions in peace building policies; *Identify the elements of a critical approach to the new humanitarianism that have been present in the public debate so far, specially within the framework of alternatives to the neo-liberal dominant discourse and politics. (AU)