The Good Drone

Description

While the military use of drones has been the subject of much scrutiny, the use of drones for humanitarian purposes has so far received little attention. As the starting point for this study, it is argued that the prospect of using drones for humanitarian and other life-saving activities has produced an alternative discourse on drones, dedicated to developing and publicizing the endless possibilities that drones have for "doing good". Furthermore, it is suggested that the Good Drone narrative has been appropriated back into the drone warfare discourse, as a strategy to make war "more human". This book explores the role of the Good Drone as an organizing narrative for political projects, technology development and humanitarian action. Its contribution to the debate is to take stock of the multiple logics and rationales according to which drones are "good", with a primary objective to initiate a critical conversation about the political currency of "good". This study recognizes the many possibilities for the use of drones and takes these possibilities seriously by critically examining the difference the drones' functionalities can make, but also what difference the presence of drones themselves – as unmanned and flying objects – make. Discussed and analysed are the implications for the drone industry, user communities, and the areas of crisis where drones are deployed. Cover Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Table of Contents Notes on contributors Acknowledgments Introduction | What does it take to be good? The good drone: “newness,” technological optimism, and technological fantasies Conceptualizing the good drone Making sense of the good drone: an analytical framework The terrain of the good drone Attributes, capabilities, and functions What is “good”? The “bad” drone Shifting discourses: the definition dogfight and public airspace as a common good Chapter previews Notes References 1 | Targeted “killer drones” and the humanitarian discourse: On a liaison Introduction: the promise of precision and the problem of reasonable use of force The drone as an active player in the political game of securitization Complex systems as actors and objects of threats Targeting: the logic of precision and expansion Targeted killing and its law Conclusion Notes References 2 | Lifting the fog of war?: Opportunities and challenges of drones in UN peace operations Introduction Surveillance drones in UN peacekeeping operations MONUSCO MINUSMA Opportunities and challenges of including surveillance drones in UN peacekeeping Helpful tool or band-aid for a political problem? UN surveillance drones and the Force Intervention Brigade Member state divisions on UN peacekeeping UN drones and humanitarian actors Managing the data Conclusion Notes References 3 | Poison pill or cure-all?: Drones and the protection of civilians Introduction The protection of civilians Combatant PoC Intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and target selection Targeting civilians, targeting for civilians? Peacekeeping PoC Surveillance, reconnaissance, documentation and deterrence Monitoring without peacekeeping Targeting in peace enforcement missions Humanitarian PoC Crisis mapping and cargo The potential for transfer to conflict settings Targeting in humanitarian interventions Conclusion Notes References 4 | Creating the EU drone: Control, sorting, and search and rescue at sea Introduction The political rationales behind the increasingly technologized border surveillance Sorting, control and order The “search and rescue drone”: inherently good or a cover for more control? Conclusion Notes References 5 | The public order drone: Proliferation and disorder in civil airspace Unlocking access to civil airspace Paramilitary policing and technology transfer The evolution of public order policing: from surveillance to weaponization The new drone antisociality: unsafe, untrained, and irresponsible users The endless possibilities for future insecurity Conclusion Notes References 6 | A revolution in agricultural affairs: Dronoculture, precision, capital Introduction The new drones From the battlefield to the cornfield: drone normalization Farming precision Unmanned land grabs Conclusion: drone on the range Notes References 7 | Wings for wildlife: The use of conservation drones: challenges and opportunities Introduction The conservation drone explained Building a conservation drone: methodology and challenges The drone as a solution to the limitations of existing conservation techniques How conservation drones have already been used Wildlife monitoring Habitat monitoring Anti-poaching Problematic issues Privacy concerns Local participation Data and control hacking Using drone data on illegal activities Conclusion References Websites 8 | Drone/.body: The drone’s power to sense and construct emergencies Introduction The “sensing drone” in emergency management An inventory of the “five sensors” The sensibilities of sensing The power of the sensing drone: from destruction to construction Sensing and un-sensing: the role of the sensor for processes of construction Constructing emergencies Constructing regulatory discourses Constructing reasoning Constructing bodies Conclusion: the drone and the body – a sensitive relationship Notes References Websites Index