The Danger of a single story about forensic humanitarianism.
Abstract
Since the mid-1980s, forensic scientists have played a crucial role in the international
response to mass violence, contributing evidence to war crimes tribunals and identifying
bodies to end the tortuous uncertainty of loved ones. Recently, experts at the International
Committee for the Red Cross have described these activities using the term "humanitarian
forensic action," applying it from the field's origins in Argentina to the multiple
organizations and types of projects that exist today. This article cautions against
any account of the history of humanitarian forensic action, or its contemporary landscape,
that is so simple and unified. It points to divergent mandates, working methods, and
even definitions of humanitarianism, focusing especially on new ways in which forensic
scientists are addressing the mass suffering caused by structural violence.
Type
Journal articlePermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/25723Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1016/j.jflm.2018.11.007Publication Info
Rosenblatt, Adam (2019). The Danger of a single story about forensic humanitarianism. Journal of forensic and legal medicine, 61. pp. 75-77. 10.1016/j.jflm.2018.11.007. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/25723.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Adam R. Rosenblatt
Associate Professor of the Practice of the International Comparative Studies Program
Adam Rosenblatt is Associate Professor of the Practice in International Comparative
Studies at Duke University and the Interim Director of the program in 2022-2023. An
artist and scholar of human rights, the ethics of care, and our ties to the dead,
he is the author of Digging for the Disappeared: Forensic Science after Atrocity (Stanford
University Press, 2015), a

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