Narratives of Security and Ethics in Humanitarian Arms Control: Gendering the Path Toward a Normative and Operational Framework for Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems at the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons
Author
Araujo de Lima, Maria Eduarda
Term
4. term
Publication year
2022
Submitted on
2022-05-30
Abstract
Denne afhandling undersøger de igangværende drøftelser under FN’s Konvention om Visse Konventionelle Våben (CCW) om at regulere Lethale Autonome Våbensystemer (LAWS), dvs. våben der kan udvælge og bekæmpe mål uden direkte menneskelig indgriben. Udgangspunktet er den etiske polarisering mellem aktører, der kræver et forebyggende forbud, og stater, som fremhæver, at høj autonomi kan reducere civile tab. Med et konstruktivistisk, feministisk ståsted analyserer afhandlingen, hvordan forskellige fortællinger konstruerer, hvad der opfattes som etiske og uetiske våben, og hvordan begreber om sikkerhed er forbundet med magtrelationer. Metodisk bygger studiet på transskriptioner fra CCW’s Ekspertgruppe om LAWS i 2021 og anvender Annick Wibbens feministiske narrative analyse og Fiona Robinsons kritiske og feministiske omsorgsetik. Israel og Palæstina er udvalgt som casestudier for at belyse, hvordan deres sikkerhedsfortællinger knytter an til etik. Afhandlingen konkluderer, at repræsentationen af individet som sikkerhedsreferent er afgørende for etiske argumenter: Palæstinas fortælling forbinder individets sikkerhedsbehov med køn og etnicitet, mens Israels fortælling nedtoner disse relationer og underordner individets behov statens sikkerhed. Israel fastholder desuden et etisk image for LAWS ved at afgrænse den normative armskontrolsfære gennem en kønnet offentlig/privat dikotomi, hvor kun visse bekymringer anses som relevante. Samlet peger analysen på, at statens militære behov fortsat er centrale i armskontrol, og at køn bidrager til at legitimere en skæv fordeling af omsorg for individets behov mellem den offentlige og den private sfære.
This thesis examines ongoing efforts under the United Nations Convention on Certain Conventional Weapons (CCW) to regulate Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS), defined as weapons capable of selecting and engaging targets without direct human input. It addresses the ethical polarization between actors calling for a preemptive ban and states asserting that high autonomy can reduce civilian harm. Taking a constructivist, feminist standpoint, the study analyzes how contrasting narratives construct ideas of ethical and unethical weapons and how concepts of security are shaped by power relations. Methodologically, it draws on transcripts from the CCW Group of Governmental Experts on LAWS in 2021 and employs Annick Wibben’s feminist narrative analysis and Fiona Robinson’s critical and feminist Ethics of Care. Israel and Palestine are selected as case studies to illustrate how their security narratives relate to ethics. The thesis concludes that representing the individual as the referent of security is central to ethical claims: Palestine’s narrative links individual security needs to gender and ethnicity, while Israel’s narrative downplays these relational aspects and subsumes individual needs to state security. Israel also maintains an ethical profile for LAWS by delimiting the normative space of arms control through a gendered public/private divide that renders only certain concerns ‘relevant.’ Overall, the analysis suggests that the centrality of state military needs in arms control persists and that gender helps legitimize a skewed distribution of care for individual needs across public and private spheres.
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