Book Review: Christine Mahoney (2016), Failure and Hope: Fighting for the Rights of the Forcibly Displaced

One of the struggles facing the humanitarian sector regarding displaced people is the discrepancy between the ideal of saving lives, on the one hand and, on the other, the often-abysmal living conditions awaiting those who are saved. This discrepancy is especially pronounced in the case of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) who find shelter but no solutions, leaving them to face increasingly protracted displacement. Christine Mahoney’s (2016) Failure and Hope: Fighting for the Rights of the Forcibly Displaced investigates global advocacy efforts related to protracted displacement, showing how failures have proliferated at three different levels of governance – the international level, the level of national governance of host countries and the local camp level. Mahoney’s focus not only on refugees but also on IDPs provides valuable insights for the humanitarianism literature, which concentrates less on IDPs as a key subject of inquiry.