IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/jodeso/v38y2022i1p50-80.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Private Military and Security Companies and The Militarization of Humanitarianism

Author

Listed:
  • Tom de Groot

    (Leiden University, Leiden, South Holland)

  • Salvador Santino F. Regilme Jr.

    (Leiden University, Leiden, South Holland)

Abstract

The widespread use of private military and security companies (PMSCs) in United Nations peacebuilding missions often undermines the effectiveness of these missions. PMSCs tend to encourage, in unnecessary ways, what is called security risk management and promote the militarization of humanitarian efforts. They encourage humanitarian aid organizations to protect their personnel with barbed wire fences, security guards, armed convoys, and secure aid compounds, even if the security risks are relatively low. Consequently, these militarized humanitarian efforts heighten the perception of risks and intensify security measures, which create physical and psychological barriers between humanitarian aid personnel and the local communities in which they carry out their tasks. This situation undermines local ownership of peacebuilding efforts and makes them less responsive to the local communities involved in these efforts. This article provides a comparative analysis of the nature of this problem and its effects in the Global South.

Suggested Citation

  • Tom de Groot & Salvador Santino F. Regilme Jr., 2022. "Private Military and Security Companies and The Militarization of Humanitarianism," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 38(1), pages 50-80, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:jodeso:v:38:y:2022:i:1:p:50-80
    DOI: 10.1177/0169796X211066874
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0169796X211066874
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/0169796X211066874?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Andersson, Ruben & Weigand, Florian, 2015. "Intervention at risk: the vicious cycle of distance and danger in Mali and Afghanistan," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 62160, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Schetter, Conrad & Mkutu, Kennedy & Müller-Koné, Marie, 2022. "Frontier NGOs: Conservancies, control, and violence in northern Kenya," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 151(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:jodeso:v:38:y:2022:i:1:p:50-80. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.