Stacey Mitchell: Humanitarian Action through the Prism of An Engendered Sustainable Peace&Security
Channel: GIRES-Global Research Institute
Date: 2021-05-27

Dr. Stacey M. Mitchell received her PhD in Political Science from the University of Georgia, where she taught from 2008 to 2014. She is currently an Assistant professor at Georgia State University\'s Perimeter College. Dr. Mitchell is presently a member of the Review Board for the International Association of Genocide Scholars, Research Policy Brief Initiative, a moderator for the Discord website on Holocaust and Computer Games, and was a former Assistant editor of Intelligence and National Security and editorial board member of War Crimes, Genocide and Crimes against Humanity. She is currently on the Research Committee of GIRES. Her areas of study and publication include theories of genocide, political violence in Rwanda and other sub-Saharan African countries, international law, regional courts in Africa and Latin America, and peace-building. Stacey is a member of the Research Committee of GIRES-Global Institute for Research Education & Scholarship.

ABSTRACT
Considering Humanitarian Action Through the Prism of an Engendered Sustainable Peace and Security The paradigm of Engendered Sustainable Peace and Security (ESPS) created by Úrsula Oswald Spring offers a fresh perspective on how to approach peacebuilding; in particular by stressing the need to widen the focus of policymakers and NGOs to include the voices and interests of women and other exploited and vulnerable communities. I apply her Engendered Sustainable Peace and Security model to the topic of humanitarian ventures more broadly but I frame her approach as one which is geared towards creating communities of practice. Defined generally as associations of “like-minded individuals” who negotiate and re-negotiate group understandings of the world communities of practice are based on mutual engagement grounded in context and can be exclusive or inclusive. Building on the work of Wegner (1998) Adler (2005) and others I argue that inclusive communities of practice are necessary to effectively combat the challenges regularly encountered in humanitarian operations much of this having to do with conditions of inequality resource scarcity and environmental degradation.

CONFERENCE INFORMATION
"Humanitarian Organizations: (Hi)Stories, Impact and Challenges"
Organizer: GIRES-Global Institute for Research Education & Scholarship  
Date: 20-21 February 2021
Place: Amsterdam (Virtual)
More information: https://www.gires.org/activities/conferences/humanitarian-organizations-histories-impact-and-challenges/