In this essay, “commoditization” and “commodification” refer to two distinguishable aspects of the relationship between human rights knowledge and the commodity form. Commoditization happens when human rights is marketed like a commodity, whether by packaging information in standardized and easily consumed numbers, icons, and graphics or “branding” human rights–monitoring organizations and their campaigns. Commodification happens when human rights information actually becomes a commodity, such as when rights investigations are done under contract, at times through international information supply chains, while possibly also subject to intellectual property restrictions. While commoditization is an Continue reading → Continue reading →

The editors of the special dossier on gender and humanitarian issues explain the motivations and main themes of the sequence of essays.

Taking up campaigns on behalf of Haitians and people of Haitian descent in the Dominican Republic, Martínez explores how gendered notions of rescue and salvation obstruct a better understanding of political organization and agency among those reduced to being victims in key humanitarian representations.