The Least of All Possible Evils: A Short History of Humanitarian Violence - Softcover

Eyal Weizman

Softcover

ISBN 10: 178663273X ISBN 13: 9781786632739

Publisher: Verso, 2017

Synopsis

The principle of the "lesser evil"-the acceptability of pursuing one exceptional course of action in order to prevent a greater injustice-has long been a cornerstone of Western ethical philosophy. From its roots in classical ethics and Christian theology, to Hannah Arendt's exploration of the work of the Jewish Councils during the Nazi regime, Weizman explores its development in three key transformations of the problem: the defining intervention of Medecins Sans Frontieres in mid-1980s Ethiopia; the separation wall in Israel-Palestine; and international and human rights law in Bosnia, Gaza and Iraq. Drawing on a wealth of new research, Weizman charts the latest manifestation of this age-old idea. In doing so he shows how military and political intervention acquired a new "humanitarian" acceptability and legality in the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.

About this title

About the Author

Eyal Weizman is Professor of Spatial and Visual Cultures at Goldsmiths, University of London, where he directs the Centre for Research Architecture and the European Research Council funded project Forensic Architecture. He is also a founder member of the collective Decolonizing Architecture Art Residency (DAAR) in Bethlehem, Palestine. He is the author of Hollow Land and co-editor of A Civilian Occupation. He lives in London.

From the Back Cover

The principle of the "lesser evil"-the acceptability of pursuing one exceptional course of action in order to prevent a greater injustice-has long been a cornerstone of Western ethical philosophy. From its roots in classical ethics and Christian theology, to Hannah Arendt's exploration of the work of the Jewish Councils during the Nazi regime, Weizman explores its development in three key transformations of the problem: the defining intervention of Medecins Sans Frontieres in mid-1980s Ethiopia; the separa

Edition details

• Publisher: Verso
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 178663273X
• ISBN 13: 9781786632739
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 208