Human Shields: A History of People in the Line of Fire

Abstract

From the American Civil War to the war against the Islamic State in the Middle East, human shields have been used as weapons of coercion, protection and deterrence in an effort to achieve a range of political, military and legal gains. Providing the first ever historical account, Neve Gordon and Nicola Perugini show how human shields have taken on multiple meanings and functions over the past 150 years. The authors maintain that human shields have emerged as a key figure of international law, one that is increasingly marshalled to legitimize the use of lethal violence primarily against non-white people trapped in war zones. Simultaneously, Gordon and Perugini highlight the appearance of human shields in unexpected sites such as anti-nuclear struggles, civil and environmental protests, and, most recently, computer games, exposing how forms of violence used by militaries in foreign conquests are migrating into the civil sphere. Ultimately, the history of human shielding is a history of how the human body has been weaponized to advance domination as well as resistance, and serves as an effective prism for interrogating the ethics of violence.