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Abstract

This article investigates the contribution of International Non-Governmental Organizations to the social construction of knowledge about episodes of mass violence. The focus is on the dynamics between global and national forces, explored through a case study of Amnesty International and the mass violence that unfolded in the Darfur region of Sudan during the first decade of the 21st century. Interviews with Amnesty staff and volunteers, supplemented by an examination of Amnesty websites, suggest that the organization succeeds in generating a relatively unified representation, reflective of its goal to promote human rights, but that it can succeed only by granting leeway to workers at the national level. The underlying dynamic shows that the global and the national are mutually dependent. Tensions may develop nonetheless, and interviewees address strategies of managing them. Lessons for scholarship and human rights practice are substantial.

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