The Paradox of collateral damage

Description

Injury is the central activity of war, and the killing of civilians in war is legitimated in existing rules of international law. Yet, the act of injuring human bodies is often omitted from accounts of war. In this respect, the notion of lawful collateral damage in war presents us with a paradox. On the one hand, we pay increasing attention to the problem of collateral damage, which today stands at the forefront of the politics of war and conflict. On the other hand, we strongly emphasize that we have no responsibility towards those we kill and harm, and we mostly close our eyes to their suffering. Operation Inherent Resolve against IS in Syria and Iraq offers a good example. With more than 11.500 aerial attacks, many in urban areas, the coalition partners deny the occurrence of any significant collateral damage, and the democratic regimes underpinning the coalition seem to accept this obvious mistruth. This seminar addresses the history and language of accidental injury in war. It will include a discussion of Frederik Rosén’s new book, Collateral Damage; A Candid History of a Peculiar Form of Death, (2016), as well as the work of Elaine Scarry. Scarry’s book, The Body in Pain (1985) has become a landmark for discussions of injuries to the human body in torture and war. The seminar seeks to make sense of the paradox of collateral damage and shed light on what it means for our understanding of nuclear weapons.

Period	17 May 2016
Event type	Seminar
Organiser	Danish Institute for International Studies
Sponsor	Danish Institute for International Studies
Location	Copenhagen, DenmarkShow on map