Kristen Cheney, Aviva Sinervo (Eds.): Disadvantaged Childhoods and Humanitarian Intervention
Reviewed by Prof. Dr. Manfred Liebel, 2019-05-16
Kristen Cheney, Aviva Sinervo (Eds.): Disadvantaged Childhoods and Humanitarian Intervention. Processes of Affective Commodification and Objectification. Springer International Publishing AG (Cham/Heidelberg/New York/Dordrecht/London) 2019. 222 pages. ISBN 978-3-030-01622-7. 74,89 EUR.
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Conclusion
The discussion about the pitfalls and problematic implications of humanitarian intervention has been going on for several years, also in German-speaking countries (see, for instance, the publications of glokal e.V.: www.glokal.org/publikationen/ – or the review of my book "Postkoloniale Kindheiten", published in 2017: www.socialnet.de/rezensionen/23078.php). The book reviewed here enriches the discussion with concrete ethnographic case studies from which it can be learned in detail how certain childhood images are generated in the context of humanitarian aid, which are intended above all to underline the need for help of marginalised children. The book shows similarities between the practices of various NGOs specializing in children, such as the tendency to separate the needs of children from those of their families and communities, or to disseminate visual representations of children in need in order to evoke feelings of compassion and justify interventions. In some chapters, it also becomes clear how arbitrarily social spaces are conceived and practically produced that are considered particularly suitable for children's growing-up, without taking into account the bonds, previous experiences and views of the children. The empirical studies give a concrete impression of the functioning of the humanitarian rescue complex, its often negative consequences for the children and the reasons for their frequent failure.
Summary
A successful collection of case studies showing how children's emergencies are instrumentalised for religious, ideological or commercial purposes.
Review by
Prof. Dr. Manfred Liebel
Master of Arts Childhood Studies and Children’s Rights (MACR) an der Fachhochschule Potsdam, Fachbereich Sozial- und Bildungswissenschaften
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Cite this publication
Manfred Liebel, 2019. Review of:
Kristen Cheney, Aviva Sinervo (Ed.): Disadvantaged Childhoods and Humanitarian Intervention. Processes of Affective Commodification and Objectification. Springer International Publishing AG
(Cham/Heidelberg/New York/Dordrecht/London) 2019.
ISBN 978-3-030-01622-7.
In: socialnet Reviews, 2019-05-16. ISSN 2190-9245. Retrieved 2023-04-02 from https://www.socialnet.de/en/reviews/25170.php.
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