Description
Book SynopsisThis collection interrogates the representation of humanitarian crisis, catastrophe and care. Contributors explore the refraction of humanitarian intervention from the mid-twentieth century to the present across a diverse range of media forms, including screen media (film, television and online video), newspapers, memoirs, music festivals and social media platforms (notably Facebook, YouTube and Flickr). Examining the historical, cultural and political contexts that have shaped the mediation of humanitarian relationships since the middle of the twentieth century, the book reveals significant synergies between the humanitarian enterprise – the endeavour to alleviate the suffering of particular groups – and its media representations, particularly in their modes of addressing and appealing to specific publics.
Table of ContentsIntroduction: Global humanitarianism and media culture – Michael Lawrence and Rachel Tavernor
Part I: Histories of humanity
1 'United Nations children' in Hollywood cinema: Juvenile actors and humanitarian sentiment in the 1940s – Michael Lawrence
2 Classical antiquity as humanitarian narrative: The Marshall Plan films about Greece – Katerina Loukopoulou
3 ‘The most potent public relations tool ever devised’? The United States Peace Corps in the early 1960s – Agnieszka Sobocinska
Part II: Narratives of humanitarianism
4 The naive republic of aid: Grassroots exceptionalism in humanitarian memoir – Emily Bauman
5 ‘Telegenically dead Palestinians’: Cinema, news media and perception management of the Gaza conflicts – Shohini Chaudhuri
6 The Unknown Famine: Television and the politics of British humanitarianism – Andrew Jones
Part III: Reporting refuge and risk
7 European borderscapes: The management of migration between care and control – Pierluigi Musarò
8 The role of aid agencies in the media portrayal of children in Za’atari refugee camp – Toby Fricker
9 Selling the lottery to earn salvation: Journalism practice, risk and humanitarian communication – Jairo Lugo-Ocando and Gabriel Andrade
Part IV: Capitalism, consumption and charity
10 Consumption, global humanitarianism and childhood – Laura Suski
11 Liking visuals and visually liking on Facebook: From starving children to satirical saviours – Rachel Tavernor
12 The corporate karma carnival: Offline and online games, branding and humanitarianism at the Roskilde Festival – Lene Bull Christiansen and Mette Fog Olwig
Index
