Civilians have long developed ways of protecting themselves and others amid violence. Yet civilian protection is still often understood primarily in terms of what states, peacekeepers, and humanitarian organizations provide or fail to provide. Drawing on research across diverse conflicts, this talk instead begins with civilians’ own protective practices and asks what they reveal about how protection is actually produced. This question has particular urgency as the institutions and norms historically associated with civilian protection are increasingly weakened, contested, or abandoned.

Taking civilian agency seriously does not mean shifting responsibility for protection onto civilians. Rather, it means recognizing that protection is not simply delivered from above but also emerges through civilian action and local relationships. This perspective complicates efforts to support civilian self-protection. External assistance can strengthen local protection while reshaping the practices and relationships on which that protection depends, creating new risks in the process. Digital technologies sharpen these tensions, expanding civilians’ ability to communicate and coordinate while making protective networks more visible to those who may seek to harm them. The talk considers what these dynamics reveal about the politics of protection and the difficult question of how civilian agency can be supported without creating new forms of risk.

 

Thursday, September 24, 2026

4:30 pm

Scheuer Room, Kohlberg Hall