Civilian protective Agency: An Introduction.

Abstract

This chapter introduces the concept of civilian protective agency. It begins with an overview of the origins of this diverse field of scholarship and practice, and then sketches the conceptual terrain. We define civilian protective agency, examine its constituent components (‘civilian’, ‘protection’, and ‘agency’), distinguish it from cognate terms, and situate the concept within the broader literature. We identify four broad inter-related yet distinct forms of civilian protective agency: evasion, resistance, rescue, and adaptation, and review the different factors and conditions that enable the emergence of civilian protective agency, as well as some of its consequences for the protection of civilians—what we refer to as the ‘protection dividend’. Finally, we provide an overview of the volume.