Iida-Maria Tammi | University of Helsinki (original) (raw)
I am a second-year doctoral researcher in the field of political history at University of Helsinki. In my article-based doctoral dissertation, I explore the nexus between international humanitarianism, security, and violence. I am interested in the ways that the everyday practices of aid work not only resist, but also enable and possibly even produce physical and epistemic violence. Drawing on postcolonial and posthumanist theories, I include in my analysis both human and non-human humanitarian actors.
I hold a master’s degree in International Development Studies from University of Amsterdam and have previously worked on foreign and security policy related issues at the Ministry for Foreign Affairs of Finland and the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) field office in Peru. I am also a curator and a member of the editorial board of the Finnish Political Studies Association’s (FPSA) webjournal.
Supervisors: Pauli Kettunen, Professor Emeritus at University of Helsinki and Noora Kotilainen, Postdoctoral Researcher at University of Helsinki
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Papers by Iida-Maria Tammi
Third World Quarterly, 2022
This article analyses the reasons behind local aid workers’ asymmetrical exposure to violence in ... more This article analyses the reasons behind local aid workers’ asymmetrical exposure to violence in contemporary humanitarian action. Taking Judith Butler’s theorisation of ‘interpretive frames’ as its analytical starting point, the article traces the process by which the humanitarian system distinguishes between lives that are to be protected and those that are dispensable. Drawing on in-depth interviews with Syrian aid workers and other experts, the article shows how the humanitarian frame makes it difficult to correctly recognise local actors’ security needs and vulnerabilities. Moreover, the normative and temporal limits of the humanitarian security project exclude certain types of threats from the view and make it difficult for local aid actors to articulate their need for protection. To address these issues, the article calls for more critical reflection regarding the marginalising and silencing effects of the existing security framework.
Third World Quarterly, Apr 4, 2022
Critical studies on security, May 26, 2021
ABSTRACT This paper analyses humanitarian security in the framework of Donna Haraway’s political ... more ABSTRACT This paper analyses humanitarian security in the framework of Donna Haraway’s political material semiotics. It begins by arguing that targeted violence against health care constitutes a trope: a figure of speech that challenges and disrupts the established narrative of humanitarian security. Drawing on 20 in-depth expert interviews, the paper explores a case study of weaponisation of health care in the Syrian conflict (2011-present). It illustrates how different material-semiotic actors – such as politicians, pathogens, and medical infrastructure – condition and shape the security of humanitarian health workers in the opposition-held parts of the country. Taking medical facilities as its key unit of analysis, the paper shows how armed violence is not only directed towards these material-semiotic entities but amplified and transformed as it passes through them. In doing so, the paper sheds light on the formative role that nonhuman materialities play in the protection of aid workers and other civilian entities in armed conflict. The paper's findings also contribute towards an improved understanding of how previously under-appreciated variables impact the delivery of medical aid in complex humanitarian emergencies.
Critical Studies on Security
This paper analyses humanitarian security in the framework of Donna Haraway’s political material ... more This paper analyses humanitarian security in the framework of Donna Haraway’s political material semiotics. It begins by arguing that targeted violence against health care constitutes a trope: a fi...
Politiikka
Saana-Maria Jokinen, Ääniä sodasta: Syyrian tie vallankumouksesta suursotaan. Helsinki: Gaudeamus... more Saana-Maria Jokinen, Ääniä sodasta: Syyrian tie vallankumouksesta suursotaan. Helsinki: Gaudeamus, 2020, 358 s.
Third World Quarterly, 2022
This article analyses the reasons behind local aid workers’ asymmetrical exposure to violence in ... more This article analyses the reasons behind local aid workers’ asymmetrical exposure to violence in contemporary humanitarian action. Taking Judith Butler’s theorisation of ‘interpretive frames’ as its analytical starting point, the article traces the process by which the humanitarian system distinguishes between lives that are to be protected and those that are dispensable. Drawing on in-depth interviews with Syrian aid workers and other experts, the article shows how the humanitarian frame makes it difficult to correctly recognise local actors’ security needs and vulnerabilities. Moreover, the normative and temporal limits of the humanitarian security project exclude certain types of threats from the view and make it difficult for local aid actors to articulate their need for protection. To address these issues, the article calls for more critical reflection regarding the marginalising and silencing effects of the existing security framework.
Third World Quarterly, Apr 4, 2022
Critical studies on security, May 26, 2021
ABSTRACT This paper analyses humanitarian security in the framework of Donna Haraway’s political ... more ABSTRACT This paper analyses humanitarian security in the framework of Donna Haraway’s political material semiotics. It begins by arguing that targeted violence against health care constitutes a trope: a figure of speech that challenges and disrupts the established narrative of humanitarian security. Drawing on 20 in-depth expert interviews, the paper explores a case study of weaponisation of health care in the Syrian conflict (2011-present). It illustrates how different material-semiotic actors – such as politicians, pathogens, and medical infrastructure – condition and shape the security of humanitarian health workers in the opposition-held parts of the country. Taking medical facilities as its key unit of analysis, the paper shows how armed violence is not only directed towards these material-semiotic entities but amplified and transformed as it passes through them. In doing so, the paper sheds light on the formative role that nonhuman materialities play in the protection of aid workers and other civilian entities in armed conflict. The paper's findings also contribute towards an improved understanding of how previously under-appreciated variables impact the delivery of medical aid in complex humanitarian emergencies.
Critical Studies on Security
This paper analyses humanitarian security in the framework of Donna Haraway’s political material ... more This paper analyses humanitarian security in the framework of Donna Haraway’s political material semiotics. It begins by arguing that targeted violence against health care constitutes a trope: a fi...
Politiikka
Saana-Maria Jokinen, Ääniä sodasta: Syyrian tie vallankumouksesta suursotaan. Helsinki: Gaudeamus... more Saana-Maria Jokinen, Ääniä sodasta: Syyrian tie vallankumouksesta suursotaan. Helsinki: Gaudeamus, 2020, 358 s.