4 May 2020

CMI researcher among the most read in the journal Social Anthropology

The limits and consequences of humanitarian military operations continue to be major issues in Western public debates on global security, democracy and human rights. 

Just how contentious these issues are is underscored by the topic of one of the most read articles on the journal Social Anthropology in 2018/2019: CMI researcher Antonio De Lauri's article "Humanitarian Militarism and the Production of Humanity" is on the list of the most downoladed articles from Social Anthropology in this period.

 This article focuses on the intersection of war and humanitarianism, situating the study of humanitarian militarism within a European context in which a reinvigorated proliferation of the military ethos coexists with ongoing transformations in European military culture and a resurgence of nation-state ideologies. Building on a reflection of the historical consolidation of humanitarian militarism and interviews conducted with soldiers, the paper explores the politics of humanity produced by humanitarian militarism.