March 2019 has been a busy and productive month for the course team – we have been working on research projects on topics that feature heavily in our teaching.
Course leader Dr Robin Dunford has just completed work on a new book, co-authored with fellow University of Brighton lecturer Dr Michael Neu.
The book, due out later this year, is on human rights and humanitarian intervention. It examines the responsibility to protect – an international commitment to prevent and respond, militarily as a last resort, to crimes of genocide, war crimes, ethnic cleansing and crimes against humanity.
Looking at case studies including Libya and Syria, it suggests that military intervention is neither an effective nor legitimate way of protecting victims of mass human rights violations. The book ends by calling for nonviolent alternatives that can prevent future atrocity crimes. Robin’s work on Libya and Syria features in the MA course, which includes a simulation of peace talks in Syria.
Dr Julia Hartviksen attended the International Studies Association conference in Toronto, presenting on her fieldwork in Guatemala and Honduras.
Drawing on 10 months of fieldwork in Maya Q’eqchi’ communities in the rural Northern Transversal Strip of Guatemala, Julia evaluated the impact of a 2008 law on femicide and other forms of violence against women. She focused on how women community leaders and human rights defenders access legal support for victim-survivors of violence. Julia’s fieldwork continues to inform her teaching on women’s rights.
Dr Vas Leontitsis is continuing to lead a DiaNEOsis Research and Policy Institute funded project on policy mechanisms to support the integration of migrants and refugees in Greece. The project scrutinises the current integration policy deficiencies in the country and explores best practices in Europe.
The aim of the project is to go beyond a traditional top-down policy making approach. To achieve this, a comprehensive survey is currently taking place among the migrant and refugee community in Greece to capture their experiences and integrate them in the final set of proposals. The results of the research will be published in 2019, and the voices of the migrant and refugee community will continue to be heard in Vas’ teaching on refugees rights.
Finally, Dr Paul Hopper’s book, understanding development, has just been published in an updated second edition. The book offers a comprehensive introduction to the multidimensional and evolving nature of international development in the contemporary world.
This new edition has been fully revised and expanded to incorporate the key events, trends and debates that are shaping development today, such as humanitarianism and the global refugee crisis, the growing number of fragile states, the contested nature of trade and trade deals, and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
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