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A chilling global history of the human shield phenomenon.
From Syrian civilians locked in iron cages to veterans joining peaceful indigenous water protectors at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, from Sri Lanka to Iraq and from Yemen to the United States, human beings have been used as shields for protection, coercion, or deterrence. Over the past decade, human shields have also appeared with increasing frequency in antinuclear struggles, civil and environmental protests, and even computer games. The phenomenon, however, is by no means a new one.
Describing the use of human shields in key historical and contemporary moments across the globe, Neve Gordon and Nicola Perugini demonstrate how the increasing weaponization of human beings has made the position of civilians trapped in theaters of violence more precarious and their lives more expendable. They show how the law facilitates the use of lethal violence against vulnerable people while portraying it as humane, but they also reveal how people can and do use their own vulnerability to resist violence and denounce forms of dehumanization. Ultimately, Human Shields unsettles our common ethical assumptions about violence and the law and urges us to imagine entirely new forms of humane politics.
From Syrian civilians locked in iron cages to veterans joining peaceful indigenous water protectors at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, from Sri Lanka to Iraq and from Yemen to the United States, human beings have been used as shields for protection, coercion, or deterrence. Over the past decade, human shields have also appeared with increasing frequency in antinuclear struggles, civil and environmental protests, and even computer games. The phenomenon, however, is by no means a new one.
Describing the use of human shields in key historical and contemporary moments across the globe, Neve Gordon and Nicola Perugini demonstrate how the increasing weaponization of human beings has made the position of civilians trapped in theaters of violence more precarious and their lives more expendable. They show how the law facilitates the use of lethal violence against vulnerable people while portraying it as humane, but they also reveal how people can and do use their own vulnerability to resist violence and denounce forms of dehumanization. Ultimately, Human Shields unsettles our common ethical assumptions about violence and the law and urges us to imagine entirely new forms of humane politics.
Price: $29.95
Pages: 312
Publisher: University of California Press
Imprint: University of California Press
Publication Date:
25 August 2020
Trim Size: 9.00 X 6.00 in
ISBN: 9780520301849
Format: Hardcover
"Thoughtful and elegant. . . . Were the book to simply chart the use of human shields in warfare and situations of political upheaval, it would be a valuable enough contribution to the literature – Gordon and Perugini write in a lucid and persuasive style, employing still photographs effectively throughout the text to illustrate their thesis. What elevates the book is its theoretical framework of inclusion and exclusion –through this prism, the book is able to examine and interrogate a number of fascinating theoretical and practical questions, using unusual and innovative examples to further explore their thesis.”
“Gives the issue of human shields the roots of the term and re-narrates their manifestation in major historical moments and contemporary sites.”
“A startling new take on the history of war, morality, and law”
“A thoroughly engaging text, a tour de force that will stand the test of time and ought to be a mainstay for those with a healthy dose of scepticism when it comes to appraising international law’s emancipatory potential. . . . A model on how academic work should be written and conceived of moving forward.”
“A wide-ranging, accessible book that focuses on the ethical and legal dilemmas connected with a practice that blurs the distinction between combatants and noncombatants. . . . An invaluable tool for courses on conflict and human rights, especially because it provides relevant evidence and arguments, without offering an easy resolution to the dilemmas posed.”
"The human shield faces us; we are its audience. The key contribution of this timely book is to elucidate that speech acts about human shielding authorize some forms of action and enable particular constellations of actors while delegitimizing and disabling others."
"Through analysing the contradictions, evolutions, and the legal ambiguity surrounding human shields, they contend convincingly that ‘humanity’ is not a politically neutral category."
"Fascinating . . . . Although Human Shields is rich with historical texture, it does more than simply document instances where these shields have been deployed. The book makes an important contribution to debates about how international humanitarian law works to enable the violence inflicted on the battlefield by legitimizing the harm caused to civilians. . . . Like most great books, Human Shields provokes more questions than it resolves."
"Outstanding and thought-provoking. . . . Exposes, at times hauntingly, the frailty of the human condition and the precarity of life."
"Contributes to public education from the evolving, global experience with human shields, which now include civilian movements to protest government actions."
“A compelling, thoughtful, and ambitious book, which successfully takes a novel – if troubling– micro-issue of conflict and explores it through a macro multi-disciplinary lens."
"Excellent analysis of shielding in international humanitarian law. . . . While by far the best analysis of the subject so far, their book should inspire other scholars to think even more deeply about the humanization of human shielding at a time of global fracture."
“Human Shields provides a critical new addition to the literature on international law. The book demonstrates the ways in which powerful states have continued to utilize IHL as a tool for aggression against marginalized communities”
"Whilst the breadth and depth of Human Shields are astonishingly exhaustive, another virtue of the book is its timing. . . . The authors’ compelling narrative and absorbing study may not draw glib and comforting conclusions, but it does offer a thoroughly researched answer to some of today’s persistent questions regarding the past, present and future conduct of war, the ethics of humane violence and the legal status of civilians in war zones."
"Neve Gordon and Nicola Perugini have written a terrifying book about how international law enables war’s violence despite the fact it purports to do the opposite."
Neve Gordon is Professor of Human Rights and the Politics of Humanitarian Law at Queen Mary University of London. He is the author of Israel’s Occupation and coauthor of The Human Right to Dominate.
Nicola Perugini is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Edinburgh. He is the coauthor of The Human Right to Dominate.
Nicola Perugini is Senior Lecturer in International Relations at the University of Edinburgh. He is the coauthor of The Human Right to Dominate.
List of Illustrations
Introduction
1 • Civil War
Humane Warfare in the United States
2 • Irregulars
The Franco-German War and the Legal Use of Human Shields
3 • Settlers
The Second Boer War and the Limits of Liberal Humanitarianism
4 • Reports
World War I and the German use of Human Screens
5 • Peace Army
International Pacifism and Voluntary Shielding during the Sino-Japanese War
6 • Emblem
The Italo-Ethiopian War and Red Cross Medical Facilities
7 • Nuremberg
Nazi Human Shielding and the Lack of Civilian Protections
8 • Codification
The Geneva Conventions and the Passive Civilian
9 • People’s War
Casting Vietnamese Resistance as Human Shielding
10 • Environment
Green Human Shielding
11 • Resistance
Antimilitary Activism in Iraq and Palestine
12 • Humanitarian Crimes
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
13 • Manuals
Military Handbooks as Lawmaking Tools
14 • Scale
Human Shielding in Sri Lanka and the Principle of Proportionality
15 • Hospitals
The Use of Medical Facilities as Shields
16 • Proximity
Civilians Trapped in the Midst of the War on ISIS
17 • Info-War
The Gaza Wars and Social Media
18 • Posthuman Shielding
Drone Warfare and New Surveillance Technologies
19 • Women and Children
Gender, Passivity, and Human Shields
20 • Spectacle
Viral Images That Dehumanize or Humanize Shields
21 • Computer Games
Human Shields in Virtual Wars
22 • Protest
Civil Disobedience as an Act of War
Acknowledgments
Notes
References
Index
Introduction
1 • Civil War
Humane Warfare in the United States
2 • Irregulars
The Franco-German War and the Legal Use of Human Shields
3 • Settlers
The Second Boer War and the Limits of Liberal Humanitarianism
4 • Reports
World War I and the German use of Human Screens
5 • Peace Army
International Pacifism and Voluntary Shielding during the Sino-Japanese War
6 • Emblem
The Italo-Ethiopian War and Red Cross Medical Facilities
7 • Nuremberg
Nazi Human Shielding and the Lack of Civilian Protections
8 • Codification
The Geneva Conventions and the Passive Civilian
9 • People’s War
Casting Vietnamese Resistance as Human Shielding
10 • Environment
Green Human Shielding
11 • Resistance
Antimilitary Activism in Iraq and Palestine
12 • Humanitarian Crimes
The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
13 • Manuals
Military Handbooks as Lawmaking Tools
14 • Scale
Human Shielding in Sri Lanka and the Principle of Proportionality
15 • Hospitals
The Use of Medical Facilities as Shields
16 • Proximity
Civilians Trapped in the Midst of the War on ISIS
17 • Info-War
The Gaza Wars and Social Media
18 • Posthuman Shielding
Drone Warfare and New Surveillance Technologies
19 • Women and Children
Gender, Passivity, and Human Shields
20 • Spectacle
Viral Images That Dehumanize or Humanize Shields
21 • Computer Games
Human Shields in Virtual Wars
22 • Protest
Civil Disobedience as an Act of War
Acknowledgments
Notes
References
Index