Reportage by our associated researchers and colleagues based on their experiences conducting fieldwork around the world.

Informed dissent or misinformed rebellion? Making sense of India’s farmer protests

By Lys Kulamadayil – This post reviews the 2020 agricultural reforms in India from a legal perspective. In doing so, it seeks to make sense of farmers’ adamant opposition to the reforms. It suggests that their protests should be understood as a rejection of food capitalism.

Localization of Humanitarian Action: From Grand Bargain to Grand Betrayal

This article assesses the localization workstream under the so-called Grand Bargain of humanitarianism. It highlights the underlying reasons behind lack of progress on localization, which hinge on vested interests and apathy, and their implications for local organisations.

Why the ICRC should think twice about its work on urban violence

By Miriam Bradley – The ICRC’s work on urban violence has led to significant and surprising shifts in its humanitarian boundaries—shifts that may damage its ability to carry out its core mandate.

Humanitarian governance and localization: What kind of world is being imagined and produced?

By Kristin Bergtora Sandvik & Dennis Dijkzeul – While localization is high on the agenda for humanitarian actors, at present, humanitarian governance does not support the localization agenda. To understand better why, we explore three issues underpinning humanitarian governance: the problem construction, consolidation and growth of the sector, and the sorting of civilians. We conclude that the localization agenda is important, but for it to succeed a fundamental change of the humanitarian system is needed.

Business and Human Rights: towards a legally binding instrument?

By Jerome Bellion-Jourdan – Getting traction towards a legally binding instrument to regulate the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises would require consensus-building. In the meantime, much remains to be done to implement the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

The Workings of ‘Soft’ Governance in Crisis: Ambiguities of the State in DR Congo

By Stéphanie Perazzone – Repopulating ‘international’ conceptualizations and practices of governance with the experiences of ‘real people’ allows us to identify their ignored transformative potentials.