Objective
This project aims to examine the history and politics of human shields, a growing phenomenon related to the increasing “weaponization” of human bodies and the fact that urban settings have increasingly become common sites for contemporary conflicts. Human shielding denotes the deployment of civilians in order to deter attacks on military sites as well as their transformation into a technology of warfare. While the majority of the scholarly literature characterizes human shielding as the “weapon of the weak,” one of my assumptions is that the category of human shields is also becoming a weapon deployed by the strong to justify the increasing number of civilian deaths in the battlefield. The legal significance of human shields emerges from the fact that civilians who are defined as shields lose some of the protections traditionally assigned to them by international law. Human shields, I propose, can be a weapon for those who use them, but also for those who accuse the enemy of using them. I hypothesize: 1) that the diverse situations in which civilians become shields and the specific way they are categorized shape our understanding of both the violence deployed and its ethical significance; and 2) that the different kinds of human shields operate in distinct ways and serve radically different military and political purposes. Accordingly, I will pursue two objectives: 1) offer a historical-legal investigation of human shielding, thus facilitating our understanding of the military and ethical function of this legal category; and 2) identify and theorize the various forms of human shielding currently being utilized in theatres of violence, both to improve our understanding of the diverse contexts in which human shields appear and to demonstrate how the conception of human shields shapes our perceptions of violence. Ultimately, HPHS hopes to contribute to research on political violence and EU’s obligations to international law.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- social sciences law human rights human rights violations political violence
- social sciences political sciences political transitions armed conflicts
- social sciences political sciences public administration bureaucracy
- social sciences law international law
- social sciences sociology ideologies
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF-EF-ST - Standard EF
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2015
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
E1 4NS LONDON
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.