Description
Book SynopsisThis prescient Handbook examines inequalities in humanitarianism at multiple levels, highlighting the long-lasting impact of colonialism on contemporary power relations.
Silke Roth, Bandana Purkayastha and Tobias Denskus bring together esteemed experts from the global north and south who introduce crucial research ethics frameworks and methodologies in order to study humanitarianism and inequality. Adopting an intersectional approach, this Handbook demonstrates the ways in which race, gender, class and other sources of inequality intersect in relation to a range of contemporary issues including the role of the media and technology, the COVID-19 pandemic, linguistic inequality, trafficking, and refugee protection and assistance. Looking ahead, the contributors stress the need for academics and practitioners to reflect on the inequalities that both underpin and are perpetuated by humanitarian contexts.
Providing a detailed overview of the ways in which inequality has affected the development and transformation of humanitarianism, this Handbook will be essential reading for academics, students and researchers of humanitarian and development studies, international relations, and sociology and social policy. It will also be of interest to public policymakers focussing on humanitarianism and striving for global equality.
Trade Review‘The Handbook of Humanitarianism and Inequality
is a much-needed remedy to the intellectual monocropping that constitutes much of the research on transnational “helping.” By centering inequality, this Handbook grapples with the most relevant areas of contentious politics of North-South relations and their fundamental conflicts of power. This Handbook is the place to start if you want to understand what is at stake in contemporary humanitarianism(s).’ -- Lisa Ann Richey, Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
‘This Handbook is a comprehensive and concise roundup of the dynamics shaping humanitarian action, interweaving humanitarianism past with its current status quo. It illustrates the diversity and complexity of humanitarians as well as the challenges and contradictions inherent to the humanitarian way of working. An equally essential read for researchers and practitioners.’ -- Andrea Steinke, Centre for Humanitarian Action, Berlin, Germany
‘Despite according equal value to every life, as implied in the core principle of humanity, humanitarians have developed and sustained many inequalities in their own systems. This Handbook is a wonderful addition to the growing field of humanitarian studies and the chapters from the Global South and North highlight many long-standing, but also emerging aspects of such inequalities which deserve attention from researchers, practitioners and students of humanitarian aid.’ -- Dorothea Hilhorst, Erasmus University, Rotterdam, the Netherlands
‘This Handbook is an excellent addition to the study of humanitarianism as a multifaceted practice with diverse histories, geographies, and indeed inequalities, unsettling conventional narratives of humanitarianism and decentring traditional Global North actors as the guardians of what it means to do humanitarianism and be a humanitarian. It is a timely intervention as we collectively face the challenges of an uncertain future, ongoing and deepening global inequalities, and demands for justice.’ -- Polly Pallister-Wilkins, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Table of ContentsContents: 1 Introduction: humanitarianism and inequality – a re-orientation 1 Silke Roth, Bandana Purkayastha, and Tobias Denskus PART I HISTORICAL AND (GEO)POLITICAL DIMENSIONS OF HUMANITARIANISM 2 Humanitarianism and colonialism 21 Aoife O’Leary McNeice 3 Humanitarianism and the global Cold War, 1945–1991 35 Margot Tudor 4 Humanitarianism and the new wars: humanitarianism, security, and securitisation 49 Michael Magcamit and Anastassiya Mahon 5 Humanitarianism, development and peace: a southern perspective 63 Priya Singh and Paula Banerjee 6 Localisation and the humanitarian sector 77 Claudia E. Youakim and Rita Stephan 7 Human rights and humanitarianism 92 Bandana Purkayastha PART II VARIETIES OF HUMANITARIAN ORGANISATIONS AND ACTORS 8 Humanitarian organisations: behemoths and butterflies 108 Sarah S. Stroup 9 Faith actors in humanitarianism: dynamics and inequalities 125 Olivia Wilkinson and Jennifer Philippa Eggert 10 Diaspora assistance 138 Anjana Narayan and Lise-Hélène Smith 11 Political solidarity movements and humanitarianism: lessons from Catalonia, Spain (1975–2020) 152 Salvador Martí i Puig and Alberto Martín Álvarez 12 Subversive humanitarianism 166 Robin Vandevoordt 13 Citizen’s groups and grassroots humanitarianism 178 Shoma Choudhury Lahiri 14 Humanitarianism and the military 192 Silke Roth PART III INTERSECTIONAL PERSPECTIVES ON HUMANITARIANS AND COMMUNITIES 15 Race, racialisation, and coloniality in the humanitarian aid sector 210 Lata Narayanaswamy 16 Humanitarian organisations as gendered organisations 222 Rianka Roy 17 Sexuality and humanitarianism: colonial ‘hauntings’ 237 Shweta M. Adur 18 Class matters in humanitarianism 251 Patricia Ward and Junru Bian 19 Humanitarianism and disability 265 Dale Buscher and Emma Pearce PART IV PERSISTING AND NEWLY EMERGING ISSUES 20 Media representations of humanitarianism 281 Valérie Gorin 21 Humanitarianism and pandemics 295 Tulani Francis L. Matenga and Lwendo Moonzwe Davis 22 Humanitarian technologies 308 Reem Talhouk 23 Linguistic inequality in the humanitarian sector: unravelling English-centric multilingualism 323 Maria Rosa Garrido 24 Climate change, disasters and humanitarian action 338 Ilan Kelman and Eija Meriläinen 25 Refugee protection and assistance 352 Naoko Hashimoto 26 Trafficking in persons, long-term vulnerabilities, and humanitarianism 367 Farhan Navid Yousaf and Muhammad Makki Kakar PART V REGIONS 27 Humanitarianism and Native America 382 Barbara Gurr 28 Australia, New Zealand, and Pacific Regions 396 Agnieszka Sobocinska 29 International humanitarianism in East Asia 411 Alistair D.B. Cook, Lina Gong, and Oscar A. Gómez 30 West Asia and North Africa 426 Josepha Wessels 31 Africa’s long fight for humanitarian self-sufficiency 443 Oheneba A. Boateng 32 The Latin American experience: inequality’s role in shaping humanitarianism 458 Oscar A. Gómez, Simone Lucatello, and Rodrigo Mena 33 Varieties of European humanitarianism 474 Silke Roth and Tobias Denskus PART VI METHODS AND KNOWLEDGE PRODUCTION 34 Humanitarian research ethics and the ethics of research in humanitarian settings 495 Shashika Bandara, Elyse Rafaela A. Conde, Abeer Dakik, and Matthew Hunt 35 Archives and historical perspectives in researching humanitarianism 510 Katarzyna Nowak 36 Quantitative methods 525 Liesbet Heyse, Nina Hansen, and Rafael Wittek 37 Power dynamics in the use of qualitative methods in humanitarianism 539 Margaux Pinaud, Kristina Tschunkert, and Augusta Nannerini 38 Discussing inequalities in evaluation of humanitarian action 555 Bonaventure Gbétoho Sokpoh with Tobias Denskus 39 Pracademvism – forever unequal or the new nexus in global development and humanitarianism 567 Themrise Khan
