Feeling Humanitarism: The Role of Emotional Group Cultures and Affective Communities in Generating Compliance with IHL

BUIS, EMILIANO JERÓNIMO

Ginebra

Seminario; Webinar *Generating Compliance with Humanitarian Norms: The Less-Explored Avenues*; 2020

Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights ? University of York

Why is International Humanitarian Law (IHL) respected or violated? The question can only be answer by paying attention to extra-legal considerations. The importance of the affective dimension has been underestimated, since when we think of the combatants on the ground, for instance, who embody the state?s respect for IHL, in many cases we tend to forget that they are people who feel and perceive, sometimes very differently from one another. The purpose of my presentation is to show the importance of emotions to understand IHL in action, to discuss specific case studies to show that the affective dimension can enhance our understanding of how IHL works and, finally, to demonstarte that emotional in-group and out-group experiences and cultural awareness can promote adherence to stricter norms on the basis of the construction of an affective network.