DR. REBECCA SUTTON
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RESEARCH & WRITING

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Visual Art by Rae Scarfo
My scholarly agenda focuses on the everyday life of international humanitarian law, civil-military interactions, and the emotions and perceptions of frontline actors. My writing has been published in peer-reviewed journals, in edited collections by Oxford University Press (OUP), Cambridge University Press (CUP), and Routledge, and in popular venues such as The Conversation and International Law Grrls. My research has  been funded by the Pierre Elliot Trudeau Foundation, the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the European Research Council, the Australian Research Council, and the Leverhulme Trust. 

Recent Projects

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Book Project: OUP Monograph on the Humanitarian Civilian
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My first monograph was published with Oxford University Press in February 2021. It explores the identity and legal status of international humanitarian actors, examining the way in which humanitarian actors perform their civilian status in relation to other international actors on a daily basis in armed conflict settings and in training spaces. This monograph is based on my doctoral project from the London School of Economics, which involved qualitative empirical research in South Sudan and at civil-military training spaces. The book argues that international humanitarian actors self-conceptualize as a special kind of civilian actor, which I term the 'civilian plus'. This leads them to enact distinctions not only from combatants but also from those who would be categorized as civilians under international law. ​​


The Humanitarian Civilian is available here

Book Launch May 5 2021 (12:30-2 pm BST virtual): Info here​​​​​​​​​​​


Leverhulme Trust Project: 'Frontline Land: The Everyday Life of International Humanitarian Law (IHL)'

From January 2020-December 2021 I engaged in a Leverhulme Trust Early Career Fellowship project at Edinburgh Law School. This project uncovers IHL's human component, exploring the emotional life and perceptional judgements of those who are expected to enact law in war. The first strand of the project examines the interplay of law and emotions in humanitarian negotiations, and the second strand explores the role of individual and collective emotions in IHL pedagogy. The Leverhulme project further includes an innovative pedagogical component, which involves partnering with practitioner organizations to develop bespoke legal trainings for frontline practitioners. I continue to work on these themes currently, now based at the University of Glasgow.
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Youth 'Participatory Action Research' in Conflict and Displacement Settings 

This project explores the emancipatory possibilities and potential pitfalls of conducting 'participatory action research' (PAR) with young people and adults who are affected by armed conflict or displacement. I traveled to Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, in July 2019 to carry out knowledge exchange activities in the Rohingya camps.  One of the trainings I facilitated was a PAR training for members of Rohingya Youth for Legal Action,  a camp-based youth organization that advocates for youth rights in the camps. The main goal of this training was to equip youth with basic research skills so that they can effectively gather and report on community views about issues that matter to them. In 2020, I began working with a team of three local researchers to explore the impact of Covid-19 in the camps.

​The most recent reports of the Rohingya-led research teams are available 
here (Rohingya Community Views of Covid-19); and here ("Like Birds in Cages: Community Definitions and Concepts of Home, Rights, Justice and Citizenship in Rohingya Camps).

Publications

Academic Publications
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PEER-REVIEWED ARTICLES & BOOK CHAPTERS

lJOURNAL OF INTERVENTION AND STATEBUILDING
“The Identity Work of Journalists and Humanitarians in South Sudan's Protection of Civilians Sites" (with Richard Stupart), Journal of Intervention and Statebuilding, https://doi.org/10.1080/17502977.2023.2241753. Available here

​INTERNATIONAL REVIEW OF THE RED CROSS
“Humanitarianism and Affect-Based Education: Emotional Experiences at the Jean-Pictet Competition” (with Emiliano Buis), International Review of the Red Cross, first view 2023.​ Available here

YEARBOOK OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW
“Read the Room: Legal and Emotional Literacy in Frontline Humanitarian Negotiations”, Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law, Vol. 24 2021, 2023, pp. 103-139.​ Available here

JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN ACTION
“Empathy in Frontline Humanitarian Negotiations: A Relational Approach to Engagement” (with Emily Paddon Rhoads), Journal of International Humanitarian Action, Vol. 7, No. 23, 2022. Available here

AFRICAN AFFAIRS
“The (Self) Protection of Civilians in South Sudan: Popular and Community Justice Practices” (with Emily Paddon Rhoads), African Affairs, Vol. 119, No. 476, 2020, pp. 370-394.​ Available here

WHO DO THE LAWS OF WAR PROTECT? (CUP)
“Operationalizing Distinction in South Sudan: Humanitarian Decision Making about Military Asset Use”, chapter in Killingsworth, M. et al (Eds.), Civility, Barbarity and the Evolution of IHL: Who Do the Laws of War Protect, Cambridge University Press, Forthcoming.​ SSRN version here

​LEIDEN JOURNAL OF INTERNATIONAL LAW
"Enacting the 'Civilian Plus': International Humanitarian Actors and the Conceptualization of Distinction", Leiden Journal of International Law, Vol. 33, No. 2, June 2020, pp. 429-449. Available here. SSRN version here 
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RESEARCH HANDBOOK ON LAW & EMOTION (Edward Elgar)
"How the Emotions and Perceptual Judgments of Frontline Actors Shape the Practice of International Humanitarian Law", chapter in Bandes, S., Madeira J.L., Temple K. and White, E (Eds.), Handbook on Law and Emotion, Edward Elgar, 2021. Available here. SSRN version here

NEW POLITICAL SCIENCE 
“The ‘Phantom Local’ and the Everyday Distinction Practices of Humanitarian Actors in War: A Socio-Legal Perspective”, in Lisa Richey and Lilie Chouliaraki (Eds.), New Political Science, Special Issue: Everyday Humanitarianism: Ethics, Affects and Practices, Vol. 40, No.4, 2018, pp. 640-657. Available here. SSRN version here
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IHL AND JUSTICE (Routledge)
“A Hidden Fault-Line: How International Actors Engage with IHL’s Principle of Distinction”, chapter in Deland, M., et al (Eds.), International Humanitarian Law and Justice: Historical and Sociological Perspectives, Routledge, 2018. SSRN version here

​HUMANITARIANISM: A DICTIONARY OF CONCEPTS (Routledge)
“International Humanitarian Law and the New Wars” (with Orly Stern), chapter in Allen, T., MacDonald, A., Radice, H. (Eds.), Humanitarianism: A Dictionary of Concepts, Routledge, 2018. 

DETAINING THE IMMIGRANT OTHER (OUP)
“Immigration Detention in South Africa: The View from Inside Lindela”, chapter in Rich Furman, Douglas Epps, and Greg Lamphear (Eds.), Detaining the Immigrant Other: Global and Transnational Issues, Oxford University Press, 2016.
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NATIONAL JOURNAL OF CONSTITUTIONAL LAW
“Dirty Puddles and Safety Valves: The Path from Fact to Remedy in Canada (A.G.) v. PHS Community Services Society (the Insite case)”, National Journal of Constitutional Law, Vol. 33, September 2014, pp. 39-60.​​

CANADIAN GRADUATE JOURNAL OF SOCIOLOGY & CRIMINOLOGY 
“A Class Action on Behalf of Federally-Sentenced Women (FSW) with Mental Health Issues”, Canadian Graduate Journal of Sociology and Criminology, Vol. 3, No. 1, Spring 2014, pp. 54-71. Available here

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CRIMINAL LAW QUARTERLY
“Canada’s Not Criminally Responsible Reform Act: Mental Disorder and the Danger of Public Safety”, The Criminal Law Quarterly, Vol. 60, No.1, June 2013, pp. 34-63.
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REFUGE
“There’s No Place Like a Refugee Camp? Urban Planning and Participation in the Camp Context” (with Anne Stevenson), Refuge Journal, Vol. 28, No.1, Fall 2012, pp.137-148. Available here

​CITIZENSHIP STUDIES
“A Kafkaesque State: Deportation and Detention in South Africa” (with Darshan Vigneswaran), Citizenship Studies, Vol. 15, Issue 5, 2011, pp. 627-642.

ANTHROPOLOGY SOUTHERN AFRICA
“Waiting in Liminal Space: Migrants’ Queuing for Home Affairs in South Africa” (with Darshan Vigneswaran and Harry Wells), Anthropology Southern Africa, Vol. 34, No.1&2, 2011, pp. 30-37.

JOURNAL FOR THE STUDY OF PEACE AND CONFLICT
“Negotiating the City: The Role of Urban Planning and International Law in the Problem of Jerusalem”, Journal for the Study of Peace and Conflict, 2008-2009, pp. 24-39.

Other Publications
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BLOGS, OP-EDs, POLICY BRIEFS, TRADE JOURNALS

UK FOREIGN, COMMONWEALTH AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE
“Beyond Compliance: International Humanitarian Law, Humanitarian Need and Civilian Harm” (with Emanuela-Chiara Gillard), a study for the UK-FCDO and PeaceRep, 2022. Available here
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COVID COLLECTIVE POLICY BRIEF (EDINBURGH/SUSSEX)
“Five Ways that the Pandemic has Affected Rohingya Communities”, University of Sussex ‘Covid Collective’ Policy Pieces, March 2022. Available here

FIELD NOTE ON ROHINGYA YOUTH ENGAGEMENT (EDINBURGH)
"Knowledge Exchange in the Rohingya Camps in Cox's Bazar", University of Edinburgh Political Settlements Research Programme Report, July 2020. Available here

INDIVIDUALIZATION OF WAR POLICY BRIEF (EUI)
​"Everyday Criminal Justice and Civilian Protection in the Central African Republic", Individualization of War Policy Brief, Sept 2019. Available here

INDIVIDUALIZATION OF WAR POLICY BRIEF (EUI)
​"Who is a Civilian? Perceptions of Civilianness in the Central African Republic", Individualization of War Policy Brief, July 2019. Available here

INDIVIDUALIZATION OF WAR BLOG (EUI)
​“Safeguarding Distinction ‘Inside the Wire’: Humanitarian-Peacekeeper Interactions in South Sudan’s Protection of Civilian Sites”, Individualization of War Blog, June 2018.​ Available here

HARVARD CASE STUDIES BLOG (Harvard University)
“Experiential Learning in the International Humanitarian Law Classroom”, Harvard Case Studies Blog, Jan 2018. Available here

THE CONVERSATION
“How Sweden is Using Virtual Reality to Help the Military Work with Civilians”, The Conversation, July 2016. Available here
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INTERNATIONAL LAW GRRRLS
“‘It’s a Cold Liaison!’ Military Perceptions of Humanitarian Distinction”, International Law Grrls, April 2016. Available here

​BOOK REVIEW (Africa at LSE)
Book Review: Louisa Lombard and Tatiana Carayannis (Eds.), Making Sense of the Central African Republic, Zed Books, 2015. Available here
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​CRISIS RESPONSE JOURNAL
“Working Together: Civil-Military Perceptions in West Africa”, Crisis Response Journal, Vol. 11, No. 2, December 2015. Available here


RIGHTS REVIEW MAGAZINE
“An Interview with Colonel Michael Gibson, Canada’s Deputy Judge Advocate General for Military Justice”, Rights Review Magazine, University of Toronto Faculty of Law International Human Rights Program, Vol. 6, No.2, Spring 2013. Available here

​TORONTO STAR

“There are Many Ashley Smiths in Canadian Prisons” (with Renu Mandhane), op-ed in Toronto Star, October 28, 2012. Available here

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INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS PROGRAM, UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
“Cruel, Inhuman and Degrading? Canada’s Treatment of Federally-Sentenced Women with Mental Health Issues” (with Elizabeth Bingham), report for the International Human Rights Program, University of Toronto, May 2012. Available here
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​WAR CHILD CANADA
Advanced Youth Leadership Training Curriculum (with Paul O’Hagan), curriculum prepared for War Child Canada’s Darfur Humanitarian Relief Program, June 2011.

OCIC I-AM E-MAGAZINE
“Are We Doing Things Right? Are We Doing the Right Things? Looking for Answers in Darfur”, Ontario Council for International Cooperation iAM e-Magazine, Vol. 2, March 2011. Available here

​ WAR CHILD FEATURE ARTICLES
"Graduation Day in Darfur: A Note from Krenek Locality”, War Child Canada, Feature Articles, October 19, 2010.

​RIGHTS REVIEW MAGAZINE
“Out of the Classroom and Into the Field”, Rights Review Magazine, University of Toronto Faculty of Law International Human Rights Program, Vol. 3, No.1, Spring 2010.

RIGHTS REVIEW MAGAZINE
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​“Left Out in the Human Rights Cold: Professor Obiora Chinedu Okafor Speaks of Disciplinary Renewal in International Human Rights Law”, Rights Review Magazine, University of Toronto, Vol. 2, No. 1, Spring 2009.

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  • home
  • CEASEFIRE! Peace Game
  • Research & Writing
  • Teaching & Training
  • Advocacy & Engagement
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