The afterlife of buzzwords: the journey of rights-based approaches through the humanitarian sector

While buzzwords fade from policy speeches, everyday aid talk and conceptual attention, they usually retain a place in aid discourse and practice. To explore the afterlife of buzzwords, this article offers an analytical framework for exploring the journey of Rights-based approaches (RBA) through the humanitarian sector. Through a study of RBA in the Norwegian humanitarian policy and in Norwegian-funded aid in Colombia, Palestine, Myanmar and Pakistan, the article analyses how the concept of RBA, after having gone through the buzz and mainstreaming phases, continues to evolve as part of the humanitarian tapestry. Our case study indicates that as a buzzword of yesteryear, humanitarian RBA are not ‘lost in translation’, but find new forms in a variety of deeply contested political projects, thus having continuing effects on humanitarian action.