Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Armed Conflicts and Humanitarian Crises: Insights from the Anthropology of War

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
International Humanitarian Action

  • 65k Accesses

Abstract

The anthropology of war covers a broad range of topics of high relevance to understand contemporary armed conflicts and humanitarian crises. Looking beyond the immediate facts of the situation and highlighting the social dimension of armed conflicts, it allows grasping the broader context in which humanitarian crises occur. Understanding war as part of the social reality of human beings and lived experiences, anthropology can offer humanitarian actors important insights into the social dimensions of war and peace. With the discipline’s comparative and holistic outlook, anthropology thus offers important insights into causes, dynamics and effects of armed conflict. This chapter provides an overview of some of the key debates and themes in the anthropology of war to contribute to the understanding of armed conflicts and humanitarian crises.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 99.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 129.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    Organisations and research projects use different thresholds to define armed conflict and war and therefore produce divergent assessments of global trends. The Uppsala Conflict Data Program (UCDP), which is linked to the Department of Peace and Conflict Research at Uppsala University, provides one of the most used data sources on armed conflicts. It defines armed conflicts as ‘contested incompatibility, which concerns government and/or territory where the use of armed force between two parties, of which at least one is the government of a state, results in at least 25 battle-related deaths’. Wars, accordingly, are high-intensity armed conflicts with more than 1000 battle-related deaths.

  2. 2.

    For an overview of the development of the anthropology of war, see: Otterbein (1999), pp. 794–805; Gusterson (2007), pp. 155–175.

  3. 3.

    Malinowski (1941), pp. 521–550.

  4. 4.

    To gain a deeper understanding of this, see Richards (2005).

  5. 5.

    Hobhouse et al. (1915).

  6. 6.

    See Malinowski (1941), pp. 521–550.

  7. 7.

    For more information on this debate, see: Reyna and Downs (1994).

  8. 8.

    Instructive to gain an understanding of this controversy: Kelly (2000) and Keeley (1996).

  9. 9.

    Robben and Nordstrom (1995).

  10. 10.

    Rao et al. (2011) offers a collection of interesting case studies that examine the ways in which wars are not only products of specific sociocultural contexts, but produce cultural practices.

  11. 11.

    See for instance Ferguson (1984).

  12. 12.

    Gluckman (1956).

  13. 13.

    See for example Malkki (1995).

  14. 14.

    See Green (1994), pp. 227–256; Robben and Suarez-Orozco (2000).

  15. 15.

    Ferguson and Whitehead (2000).

  16. 16.

    Kaldor (1999).

  17. 17.

    Recommended readings on these topics include: Eller (1999) and Hinton (2002).

  18. 18.

    See Fry (2006).

  19. 19.

    Important works in this field include: Avruch (1998) and Lederach (1997).

  20. 20.

    See Sponsel (1996), pp. 95–125.

  21. 21.

    Richards (2005). Instead of advancing a sharp dichotomy between war and peace, this edited volume advances the argument that we should think of war and peace as a continuum.

  22. 22.

    See Schirch (2005) and Ross (2002).

  23. 23.

    For details on this controversy, see: Lucas (2009).

  24. 24.

    Wakin (1992).

  25. 25.

    Rubinstein et al. (2012).

  26. 26.

    For a though-provoking reflection on this and related issues, see Daniel (1996) and Waterston (2008).

  27. 27.

    See for instance Scheper-Hughes (1992).

References

  • Avruch K (1998) Culture and conflict resolution. US Institute of Peace Press, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Daniel E (1996) Charred Lullabies: chapters in an anthropology of violence. Princeton University Press, Princeton

    Google Scholar 

  • Eller J (1999) From culture to ethnicity to conflict: an anthropological perspective on international ethnic conflict. University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson R (1984) Warfare, culture, and environment. Academic Press, Orlando

    Google Scholar 

  • Ferguson R, Whitehead N (2000) War in the tribal zone: expanding states and indigenous warfare. American Research Press, Santa Fe

    Google Scholar 

  • Fry D (2006) The human potential for peace. An anthropological challenge to assumptions about war and violence. Oxford University Press, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Gluckman M (1956) Custom and conflict in Africa. Blackwell, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Green L (1994) Fear as a way of life. Cultur Anthropol 9:227–256

    Google Scholar 

  • Gusterson H (2007) Anthropology and militarism. Annu Rev Anthropol 36:155–175

    Google Scholar 

  • Hinton A (2002) Annihilating difference: the anthropology of genocide. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • Hobhouse L, Wheeler G, Ginsberg M (1915) The material culture and social institutions of the simpler peoples: an essay in correlation. Chapman & Hall, Ltd., London

    Google Scholar 

  • Kaldor M (1999) New & old wars. Organized violence in a global era. Polity Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Keeley L (1996) War before civilization: the myth of the peaceful savage. Oxford University Press, Oxford

    Google Scholar 

  • Kelly R (2000) Warless societies and the origin of war. University of Michigan Press, Michigan

    Google Scholar 

  • Lederach JP (1997) Building peace: sustainable reconciliation in divided societies. United States Institute of Peace Press, Washington

    Google Scholar 

  • Lucas G (2009) Anthropologists in arms: the ethics of military anthropology. AltaMira Press, Plymouth

    Google Scholar 

  • Malinowski B (1941) An anthropological analysis of war. Am J Sociol 46:521–550

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malkki L (1995) Purity and exile: violence, memory and national cosmology among hutu refugees in Tanzania. University of Chicago Press, Chicago

    Google Scholar 

  • Otterbein K (1999) A history of research on warfare in anthropology. Am Anthropol 101:794–805

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rao A, Bollig M, Böck M (2011) The practice of war: production, reproduction and communication of armed violence. Berghahn Books, New York

    Google Scholar 

  • Reyna S, Downs S (1994) Studying war: anthropological perspectives. Gordon and Breach, Philadelphia

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards P (2005) No peace, no war: an anthropology of contemporary armed conflicts. Ohio University Press, Athens

    Google Scholar 

  • Robben A, Nordstrom C (1995) Fieldwork under fire: contemporary studies of violence and survival. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • Robben A, Suarez-Orozco M (2000) Cultures under siege: collective violence and trauma. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge

    Google Scholar 

  • Ross F (2002) Bearing witness: women and the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission. Pluto Press, London

    Google Scholar 

  • Rubinstein R, Fosher K, Fujimura C (2012) Practicing military anthropology: beyond expectations and traditional boundaries. Kumarian Press, Sterling

    Google Scholar 

  • Scheper-Hughes N (1992) Death without weeping: the violence of everyday life in Northeast Brazil. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • Schirch L (2005) Ritual and symbol in peacebuilding. Kumarian Press, Bloomfield

    Google Scholar 

  • Sponsel L (1996) The natural history of peace: a positive view of human nature and its potential. In: Gregor T (ed) A natural history of peace. Nashville

    Google Scholar 

  • Wakin E (1992) Anthropology goes to war: professional ethics and counterinsurgency in Thailand. University of Wisconsin Press, Madison

    Google Scholar 

  • Waterston A (2008) An anthropology of war: views from the frontline. Berghahn Books, New York

    Google Scholar 

Further Reading

  • Otterbein K (1999) A history of research on warfare in anthropology. Am Anthropol 101:794–805

    Google Scholar 

  • Reyna S, Downs S (1994) Studying war: anthropological perspectives. Gordon and Breach, Australia

    Google Scholar 

  • Richards P (2005) No peace, no war: an anthropology of contemporary armed conflicts. Ohio University Press, Athens

    Google Scholar 

  • Robben A, Nordstrom C (1995) Fieldwork under fire: contemporary studies of violence and survival. University of California Press, Berkeley

    Google Scholar 

  • Waterston A (2008) An anthropology of war: views from the frontline. Berghahn Books, New York

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Otto-von-Guericke University Magdeburg, Magdeburg, Germany

    Kristina Roepstorff

  2. University College Dublin, Dublin, Ireland

    Kristina Roepstorff

  3. Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Kristina Roepstorff

Authors
  1. Kristina Roepstorff
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kristina Roepstorff .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Hans-Joachim Heintze

  2. Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict, Ruhr-University Bochum, Bochum, Germany

    Pierre Thielbörger

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2018 Springer International Publishing AG

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Roepstorff, K. (2018). Armed Conflicts and Humanitarian Crises: Insights from the Anthropology of War. In: Heintze, HJ., Thielbörger, P. (eds) International Humanitarian Action. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14454-2_16

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-14454-2_16

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-319-14453-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-319-14454-2

  • eBook Packages: Law and CriminologyLaw and Criminology (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation