Book Review: Katja Lindskov Jacobsen, The Politics of Humanitarian Technology: Good Intentions, Unintended Consequences and Insecurity
| Published date | 01 November 2017 |
| Author | Courteney J O’Connor |
| Date | 01 November 2017 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1478929917716893 |
| Subject Matter | Book ReviewsInternational Relations |
Book Reviews 633
The Politics of Humanitarian Technology:
Good Intentions, Unintended Consequences
and Insecurity by Katja Lindskov Jacobsen.
Abingdon: Routledge, 2015. 208pp., £85.00 (h/b),
ISBN 9781138022072
There is a general assumption at play in the
contemporary international community that
humanitarian action can only ever be a good
and moral thing. In recent years, humanitarian
actors have been utilising new technologies at
an increasing rate, giving those technologies
the impression of normative acceptability.
In The Politics of Humanitarian Technology,
Katja Lindskov Jacobsen analyses the use of
new and emerging technologies in the humani-
tarian context. An interesting point that is
raised early in the text, and both discussed and
backed up throughout, is that despite the moral
justification of humanitarian action, it does not
always lead to a net benefit for the vulnerable
population in question (p. 21). In addition,
Jacobsen notes that it is impossible for human-
itarian practices to operate completely removed
from local conflict dynamics; it has been noted
that despite best intentions, humanitarian
action could inadvertently benefit parties to the
conflict (p. 25). Far from being neutral, both
humanitarian actors and the technologies they
employ ‘affect, and are affected by, global
power dynamics’ (p. 28).
Jacobsen outlines and analyses three case
studies in her book: the use of biometric tech-
nologies among refugee and returnee communi-
ties, the humanitarian distribution of genetically
modified food deemed unfit for human con-
sumption in the global core and the vaccina-
tion of vulnerable populations in the global
periphery. Among the conclusions Jacobsen
draws is that humanitarian actors, by employ-
ing new and emerging technologies, are con-
tributing to the ‘vilization’ of vulnerable
populations and thus producing them as bod-
ies fit for experimentation (pp. 33, 83).
Jacobsen ably and convincingly reinforces the
idea that irrespective of success or failure,
humanitarian action creates further risk to the
vulnerable populations it is supposed to aid.
The Politics of Humanitarian Technology
contributes simultaneously to several bodies
of literature in an elegant and convincing man-
ner. By enhancing her analysis with insights
from Michel Foucault, Gregoire Chamayou
and science and technology studies (STS) gen-
erally, Jacobsen has produced a work that can
comfortably be placed within the fields of
political theory, humanitarianism, interna-
tional relations and technology studies.
The book is well researched and the points
are well argued; the selected case studies are
insightful and elegantly written and can be
understood both on their own and as part of the
overriding structure of the text. The points
Jacobsen raises throughout are thought-pro-
voking and astute and will certainly generate
further research in many fields.
Courteney J O’Connor
(The Australian National University)
© The Author(s) 2017
Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav
DOI: 10.1177/1478929917716893
journals.sagepub.com/home/psrev
Critical Approaches to International
Security by KM Fierke. Oxford: Polity Books,
2015. 240pp., £18.99 (p/b), ISBN 9780745670546
Critical Approaches to International Security
is divided into three substantive sections
according to context, methodology and prac-
tice. These are further broken down into nine
chapters across the sections, preceded by an
Introduction which provides an overview of
how the chapters are structured.
In Part I, Karin Fierke contextualises the
emergence of mainstream and critical security
studies. She argues that, whether narrow or
broad, the ‘meaning and study of security is
always political’ (p. 17), which has led to an
inconsistent use of the term. Furthermore, she
addresses the reconceptualisation of security
after the end of the Cold War. This section is
thorough, in that it addresses the inconsistent
meanings that security has acquired over the
years rather than mere binaries of pre- and post-
Cold War security based on narrowness and
breadth. The inclusion of non-Western contexts
is admirable. However, a postcolonial view
where Westphalian statehood in ‘third world
countries’ (which is the kernel of traditional
security studies) is problematised could have
further enriched the discussion.
In the methodological section, Fierke argues
that ‘the international system is a social con-
struction’ (p. 78) rather than a brute fact, which
To continue reading
Request your trial