MA Humanitarianism and Conflict Response / Course details

This course will critically examine the definitions and practices of humanitarian diplomacy and negotiation – an emerging concept within the humanitarian sector. Egeland (2013) argues there is ‘in our age of information, advocacy, and non-governmental activism no place with widespread suffering where there is no humanitarian diplomacy and action’. Despite this, many humanitarian practitioners may associate diplomatic practice in its traditional political sense, viewing it as the preoccupation of states as opposed to aid agencies. They may also feel that humanitarian principles should not be negotiated. Yet, increasingly the expectations placed upon international and national humanitarian groups, agencies, and organisations to be ready to respond immediately to any disaster or conflict has brought humanitarian diplomacy to the fore. For this reason the course examines negotiation practices understood in the broadest sense, from informal exchanges in ‘the field’ to advocacy and international diplomacy. Students will engage with the topic in two ways. First, they will learn from academic social science and humanities approaches, through readings and seminar teaching. Second, students will work together to prepare and lead critical exchanges with the guest expert speakers.

• Provide knowledge about the area of humanitarian diplomacy (key actors, issues and norms), which will familiarise students with a key area of humanitarian practice.
• Nurture students’ critical thinking and reflexivity about the politics, sociology, history and economy of humanitarian diplomacy, beyond buzzwords and technocratic language.
• Deepen students’ abilities to work across disciplines, levels of analysis and modes of analysis (general and case-specific perspectives).
• Develop students’ abilities to critically engage with inputs from academic, practitioner and policy resources (from both readings and expert inputs).
• Equip students to identify and strategise about the possibilities, limits and uncertainties of action in humanitarian diplomacy and negotiation.

Lectures and classroom, debates (using flipped classroom approach) and tutorials.

The module content, assessments, reading lists and external resources will be posted on blackboard.

Students will be encouraged to join group discussions on blackboard and will be encouraged to use/access/share online resources.

• Identify the key actors in humanitarian diplomacy and negotiation, their goals and their unequal agency
• Understand the key issues and debates in humanitarian diplomacy and negotiation
• Grasp the key norms in humanitarian diplomacy (laws, rules, codes of behaviour)
• Understand the systems, structures and institutions of humanitarian diplomacy and negotiation (factors, implications, effects of inclusion and exclusion)

• Apply critical thinking to the concepts and practices of humanitarian diplomacy and negotiation
• Critically use and assess concepts and theories from a range of social science disciplines and methodological approaches
• Critically assess and use practitioner and policy documents and views from actors in humanitarian diplomacy and negotiation
• Consider multiple levels of analysis (from micro to macro) and draw out connections and contradictions between general topics and case studies
• Be reflexive about their sociological, political and ethical position in the field of humanitarianism

• Practise critical reading of an array of sources
• Search for, assess and select literature from academic, practitioner and policy sources
• Craft and complete rigorous academic research, from choosing a research question to planning research steps and timeline, researching it, assessing material, and writing and self-editing
• Structure and present written and oral arguments
• Prepare and conduct interviews of elite experts to gather factual information and construct theoretical analyses

• Apply analytical and synthesis skills in writing
• Hone written and oral communication skills
• Be successful at complex team work on written and oral tasks
• Conduct, observe and debrief interviews

The course reading list will comprise both general references on humanitarian diplomacy and references specific to both core case studies and reflective practice. References may include:

IFRC (n.d.). Humanitarian Diplomacy Policy. IFRC. http://www.ifrc.org/Global/Governance/Policies/Humanitarian_Diplomacy_Policy.pdf

Minear, L., & Smith, H. (eds.). (2007). Humanitarian Diplomacy: Practitioners and Their Craft. Tokyo: United Nations University Press.

Régnier, P. (2011). The emerging concept of humanitarian diplomacy: identification of a community of practice and prospects for international recognition. International Review of the Red Cross, 93(884). http://www.icrc.org/eng/assets/files/review/2011/irrc-884-reginier.pdf

Magone, C., Neuman, M. and Weissman, F., (eds.), Humanitarian Negotiations Revealed: the MSF Experience (Hurst, 2011)

Egeland, J. (2013). “Humanitarian diplomacy” in The Oxford handbook of modern diplomacy / edited by Andrew F. Cooper, Jorge Heine, and Ramesh Thakur. (pp. 352–368). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Acuto, M. (2014). Negotiating relief: The politics of humanitarian space. London: Hurst.

ffrench-Constant, Laura (2014), How To plan, write and communicate an effective Policy Brief: Three Steps to Success. https://www.researchtoaction.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/PBWeekLauraFCfinal.pdf