Humanitarianism

Humanitarianism

By: Amanda Mannis

Definition and Background

Humanitarianism, is an ethical principle of supporting human welfare in dire situations such as natural disasters, wars, neglect in home country, homelessness, and famines. Provisions provided include but are not limited to food, clothing, shelter, medical aid, and cash transfers (Calhoun, Oxford Reference, 2002).  Humanitarianism has thought to be created from moral character and the extension of kindness, benevolence and sympathy to humanity. The main goal of humanitarianism is to save lives, eliminate suffering, and uphold human dignity (Calhoun, Oxford Reference, 2002).  Typically, aid recipients are victims, refugees, immigrants, the poor, orphans, and widows while rescuers tend to be aid workers, donors, and host governments. Funding for humanitarian aid efforts usually come from individuals, corporations, and governments.

Although the origin and beginning of humanitarianism is undetermined, key components such as medical and technological advancements in the eighteenth century have produced global knowledge about information on suffering bodies. In the 1980s, humanitarianism began to take root as moral and political relief work—as it is commonly known today. Some examples of humanitarian aid organizations include transnational nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and governmental health agencies (GOVs) (Calhoun, Oxford Reference, 2002). Some mainstream humanitarian aid organizations include OxFam, Doctors Without Borders, World Food Programme (WFP), International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE). In 2016, the first global summit was held in Istanbul, Turkey, an initiative of the United Nations to discuss matters of global crisis (Calhoun, Oxford Reference, 2002).Humanitarianism, is an ethical principle of supporting human welfare in dire situations such as natural disasters, wars, neglect in home country, homelessness, and famines. Provisions provided include but are not limited to food, clothing, shelter, medical aid, and cash transfers (Calhoun, Oxford Reference, 2002).  Humanitarianism has thought to be created from moral character and the extension of kindness, benevolence and sympathy to humanity. The main goal of humanitarianism is to save lives, eliminate suffering, and uphold human dignity (Calhoun, Oxford Reference, 2002).  Typically, aid recipients are victims, refugees, immigrants, the poor, orphans, and widows while rescuers tend to be aid workers, donors, and host governments. Funding for humanitarian aid efforts usually come from individuals, corporations, and governments.

 

Historical Context

One of the first humanitarian efforts in history is the Northern Chinese Famine from 1876-1879 (Falkenheim & Twitchett, Britannica Academic, 2016). The famine occurred in the late Qin dynasty in China (Falkenheim & Twitchett, Britannica Academic, 2016). The drought severely affected crops. It is estimated 13 million died from starvation. British missionary Timothy Richard grabbed international attention after he appealed to the foreign community about the famine in summer 1876 (Falkenheim & Twitchett, Britannica Academic, 2016). In March 1877, the Shandong Famine Relief Committee was established with the help of a diversified group including diplomats, businessmen, Protestants, and Catholics (Falkenheim & Twitchett, Britannica Academic, 2016). With this response, funds were raised to help support this effort. However, eventually the original goal of this relief effort was lost. Political and religious motives interfered. The Chinese feared that missionaries were using the humanitarian aid work to spread Christianity while the Chinese were thought to be anti-foreign establishment; rivalry persisted (Falkenheim & Twitchett, Britannica Academic, 2016).

Controversy/Perspectives

Anthropological Perspectives

Humanitarianism, has caught anthropological attention by its role in many global political and health issues. Many anthropologists have criticisms to the undercurrents behind humanitarianism. Two major areas in humanitarianism that is studied by anthropologists are the relationships and dynamics between aid workers and recipients and the humanitarian space (Feldman, 2015, p.3).

First, humanitarian aid workers tend to be from organizations of developed, democratic countries. Since relief efforts are seeking to “save” a group of individuals, the mindset of “civilizing primitive cultures” can become a wedge between aid worker and aid recipient. Aid workers close interactions with the destitute can cause relief workers to have a condescending attitude. This type of attitude allow aid workers to not appreciate or respect cultural differences and perspectives as well as impose Western-ideologies (Feldman, 2015, p.3).

Second is the humanitarian space. This term was coined by Rony Brauman and was described as “a space of freedom in which we [humanitarian aid providers] are free to evaluate needs, free to monitor the distribution and use of relief goods, and free to have a dialogue with the people” (Brauman, 2009, p. 108). This “space” allows the aid worker to act in certain ways not allowed in other spaces. Theoretically, the humanitarian space can be thought of as two entities—the physical and the conceptual. The physical space includes refugee camps and health clinics. However, conceptually, this space is thought of as a place of neutrality, security, and protection. Yet, because humanitarian spaces are usually associated with the physical entity the harm is it can become the public imagery. Clinics and camps have become synonymous with humanitarian work that certain ethic, racial, and religious groups are linked to being a weaker or lesser society because media portrayal (Feldman, 2015, p.4).

Controversy

Another aspect of humanitarian relief work to consider is the potential danger is can also pose to aid workers, especially when workers travel to conflict-rich countries. In 2008, 260 aid workers were killed, kidnapped, or seriously injured in other attacks such as ambushes, assassinations with small arms, raids, and bombs (Harmer et. al, 2009, p. 1). These violent attacks are steadily on the rise (Harmer et al, 2009, p.2). The three most violent countries for relief work is Sudan (Darfur), Afghanistan, and Somalia. Together these three countries accounted for more than 60% of these violent incidents (Harmer et. al, 2009, p. 1). Controversy has sparked whether it is ethical to withdraw aid from such violent areas. Because humanitarian efforts are now closely tied to political motives it has been suggested that such organizations cut political ties and move forward to becoming independent, neutral organizations for the sake of safety and security (Harmer et. al, 2009, p. 10).

Correspondence to Politics of Health  

Humanitarianism is linked to politics of health through the aspect biopower. Biopower, a concept developed by Foucault (1979) is the “power exercised over life, a form of control that acts on the living body” (Foucault, 1979). Biopower exists in humanitarian efforts to further a political agenda, or elevate moral exemplars. The outcomes can be terrible for those receiving the aid. For example, in the Ticktin (2006) article, France’s government and health officials resided over undocumented immigrants. France who thought of themselves as a moral exemplar developed a clause to allow undocumented workers to receive aid only in the case of an emergency medical situation. In this situation, too much authority was given to officials and the system became abused. Undocumented workers began to purposely contracting HIV/AIDS in order to receive legal papers. Those denied help were left to become exploited, black market labor workers. (Ticktin, 2006, p. 33-49).

Yet, the role of biopower in humanitarianism conflicts with the guiding principles by which humanitarian efforts were established. Many argue that humanitarianism should sever all political connections yet this will risk a reduction in funding.

 

 

 

References

Brauman, Rony (2009). Global Media and the Myths of Humanitarian Relief: The Case of the      2004             Tsunami. In Richard Wilson and Richard Brown (eds.), Humanitarianism and        Suffering: the             Mobilization of Empathy. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp.      108–117

Calhoun, Calvin. (2002) “Humanitarianism.” Oxford Reference. 31 Mar. 2017.             http://www.oxfordreference.com.proxy.library.vanderbilt.edu/view/10.1093/acref/978019            5123715.001.0001/acref-9780195123715-e-775.

Falkenheim, Victor and Twitchet, Dennis. N.d. Britannica Academic, s.v. “Shaanxi,” accessed      March 31,             2017, http://academic.eb.com.proxy.library.vanderbilt.edu/levels/collegiate/article/Shaan    xi/11    7349.

 

Feldman, Ilana. “Anthropology and Humanitarianism in the Middle East.” A Companion to the           Anthropology of the Middle East. Altorki, Soraya (ed). Blackwell Publishing, 2015.          Blackwell Reference Online. 31 March 2017           http://www.blackwellreference.com.proxy.library.vanderbilt.edu/subscriber/tocnode.html  ?id=g9781118475614_chunk_g978111847561417>

 

Foucault, Michel. 1979. The History Of Sexuality. 1st ed. London: Allen Lane.

 

Harmer, A., DiDomencio, V., Stoddard, A. 2009. “Providing Aid In Insecure Environments:                    2009 Update Trends In Violence Against Aid Workers And The Operational Response”.           Humanitarian Policy Group, 1-12.    https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-           assets/publications-opinion-            files/4243.pdf.

 

Ticktin, Miriam. “Where ethics and politics meet.” American Ethnologist 33, no. 1 (2006): 33-49. doi:10.1525/ae.2006.33.1.33.

 

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