http://anthropos-lab.net/vss/2008/03/international-emergency-famine-response/ An ARC Collaboration Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:53:20 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 http://anthropos-lab.net/vss/2008/03/international-emergency-famine-response/#comment-9403 Dale A. Rose Thu, 20 Mar 2008 05:27:34 +0000 http://anthropos-lab.net/vss/2008/03/international-emergency-famine-response/#comment-9403 This is fascinating at so many levels. For me, just one of these comes by way of the non-profit Fritz Institute, where as it turns out I happen to work(!) Of note: Fritz Institute has been very heavily engaged in the articulation of a relatively "new" field of knowledge and expertise: "humanitarian logistics" Not to suggest, of course, that there were no 'logistics' in the humanitarian sphere prior to Fritz's involvement; rather, the field has become institutionalized with standards, certification and the like largely through this NGO's work. More important for this entry: how the field is changing through socio-technical assemblages such as humanitarian logistics is of central importance to the issue that Stephen raises, namely, that "anticipation, preparedness, and response... is consolidating around increasingly stable knowledge forms and modes of authorized expertise." Indeed. I would propose for those interested, and perhaps for Stephen's class as well, that an additional step into inquiry in this field would be to explore these and similar assemblages. What are their techniques? To meet which (emergent?) demands exactly? According to which logics precisely? As a start (and to use the example I just provided), one might look to the genealogy of standards and certification and their strategic deployment to solidify, institutionalize and legitimize a (re-)emergent/re-articulated field of knowledge and practice. In the humanitarian field (in logistics anyway), I believe this is only really just starting to take hold... This is fascinating at so many levels. For me, just one of these comes by way of the non-profit Fritz Institute, where as it turns out I happen to work(!) Of note: Fritz Institute has been very heavily engaged in the articulation of a relatively “new” field of knowledge and expertise: “humanitarian logistics” Not to suggest, of course, that there were no ‘logistics’ in the humanitarian sphere prior to Fritz’s involvement; rather, the field has become institutionalized with standards, certification and the like largely through this NGO’s work. More important for this entry: how the field is changing through socio-technical assemblages such as humanitarian logistics is of central importance to the issue that Stephen raises, namely, that “anticipation, preparedness, and response… is consolidating around increasingly stable knowledge forms and modes of authorized expertise.” Indeed. I would propose for those interested, and perhaps for Stephen’s class as well, that an additional step into inquiry in this field would be to explore these and similar assemblages. What are their techniques? To meet which (emergent?) demands exactly? According to which logics precisely? As a start (and to use the example I just provided), one might look to the genealogy of standards and certification and their strategic deployment to solidify, institutionalize and legitimize a (re-)emergent/re-articulated field of knowledge and practice. In the humanitarian field (in logistics anyway), I believe this is only really just starting to take hold…

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