‘Arm Bearers’ or ‘Warriors’? An Existential Encounter between Combatant Subjectivity and the Law of War

Ka Lok Yip (Hamad Bin Khalifa University)

Abstract:

Rooted in the enigma of human existence, existentialism flourished amid widespread destruction and disillusionment in Europe during and after the Second World War. 80 years on, what can international law today learn from existential insights on human subjectivity, freedom and authenticity, to help address the perennial phenomenon that puts human face to face with the absurdity of their existence, war? Through an existential phenomenological lens, this talk unpacks the divergence between two ICRC-commissioned reports on how to promote combatants’ compliance with the law of war or international humanitarian law (IHL): one views combatants as functionaries and advocates hardwiring IHL into commands and policies to build short-cuts to combatants’ pre-reflective consciousness, while the other views combatants as reflective individuals and seeks to inculcate a certain ‘identity’ in them. The talk examines the radical potential of combatants’ self-conscious exercise of their existential freedom in war, explores the limits of the use of ‘identity’ inculcation to rein in this freedom and demonstrates how IHL compliance could itself be an expression of combatants’ authenticity in an existential sense.

Information:

The talk is part of the Law in Context Lecture Series at Helmut Schmidt University, Hamburg, organised by Prof. Dr. Sigrid Boysen, Dr. Sué González Hauck and Dr. Jens T. Theilen. It is in-person only. Prior registration is required ([email protected]).