Dr Lia Brazil is a postdoctoral researcher at Nuffield College, University of Oxford. Her research explores the intersection of internationalism, humanitarianism, and imperialism, with particular interest in how individuals in conflict adapted and used legal concepts and ideas. This will be the subject of her book, ‘Ruling by law, resisting through law: International Law and the Rule of Law in the British Empire’ which explores the use of the laws of war in conflicts in South Africa (1899 – 1902) and Ireland (1916 – 1921).
Her work on civil wars is particularly interested in appeals made by individuals – particularly women, colonised people or other traditionally disenfranchised groups – to the International Committee of the Red Cross and other humanitarian organisations for intervention in internal conflicts. Other work published or in press explores humanitarian activities in Ireland, contestations over neutrality in international law, and the harnessing of the Red Cross movement by individuals on the ground in conflict.