Humanitarianism

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Humanitarianism is an ideology centered on the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional reasons.

Contents

One aspect involves voluntary emergency aid overlapping with human rights advocacy, actions taken by governments, development assistance, and domestic philanthropy. Other critical issues include correlation with religious beliefs, motivation of aid between altruism and social control, market affinity, imperialism and neo-colonialism, gender and class relations, and humanitarian agencies. [1] A practitioner is known as a humanitarian.

While humanitarianism on a local and national level can be traced far back in history, scholars of international politics tend to identify the advent of global humanitarian impulses to the 19th century. [2] [3] The creation of the International Red Cross in 1863 is considered a key juncture in global humanitarianism. [2] The scope of humanitarianism has expanded over time alongside shifting perceptions of who counts as "human" and whose lives are worth saving. [2] [3]

A universal doctrine

Any insult or oppression of a man because he belongs to another race, another language or another social class than me, I regard as barbaric. L. L. Zamenhof on Homaranismo. Pri barbareco, Zamenhof.jpg
Any insult or oppression of a man because he belongs to another race, another language or another social class than me, I regard as barbaric. L. L. Zamenhof on Homaranismo .

Scholars have generally observed that humanitarianism has increased in scope over time, as individuals and groups have expanded their definition of human life to groups beyond their immediate environment. [4] [2] [3] Humanitarian governance has become increasingly complex and institutionalized over time. [5]

Jean Pictet, in his commentary on The Fundamental Principles of the Red Cross, argues for the universal characteristics of humanitarianism:

The wellspring of the principle of humanity is in the essence of social morality which can be summed up in a single sentence, Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them. This fundamental precept can be found, in almost identical form, in all the great religions, Brahminism, Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Islam, Judaism and Taoism. It is also the golden rule of the positivists, who do not commit themselves to any religion but only to the data of experience, in the name of reason alone. It is indeed not at all necessary to resort to affective or transcendental concepts to recognize the advantage for men to work together to improve their lot. [6]

Historical examples and periodization

Humanitarianism was publicly seen in the social reforms of the late 1800s and early 1900s, following the economic turmoil of the Industrial Revolution in England. Many of the women in Great Britain who were involved with feminism during the 1900s also pushed humanitarianism. The atrocious hours and working conditions of children and unskilled laborers were made illegal by pressure on Parliament by humanitarians. The Factory Act of 1833 and the Factory Act of 1844 were some of the most significant humanitarian bills passed in Parliament following the Industrial Revolution.

In the middle of the 19th century, humanitarianism was central to the work of Florence Nightingale and Henry Dunant in emergency response and in the latter case led to the founding of the Red Cross.

The Humanitarian League (1891–1919) was an English advocacy group, formed by Henry S. Salt, which sought to advance the humanitarian cause. [7]

Various suggestions of distinct periods of humanitarianism exist, drawing either on geopolitical or socioeconomic factors that determine humanitarian action. The first approach is exemplified by Michael Barnett's proposition to distinguish ages of "imperial humanitarianism" (late 19th century to 1945), "neo-humanitarianism" (1945–1989), and "liberal humanitarianism" (post-1990). [2] Norbert Götz, Georgina Brewis, and Steffen Werther are advocates of the socioeconomic and cultural approach, arguing that there have been ages of "ad hoc humanitarianism" (up to c. 1900), "organized humanitarianism" (c. 1900–1970), and "expressive humanitarianism" (since 1970). They suggest we might currently be entering "a novel kind of defensive humanitarianism with roots in the expressive age, with automated interfaces, and with thick 'firewalls' between donors and recipients." [8] However, a neat separation between donor and recipient is conventionally difficult to draw. The employment of 'local staff', the active call for help from people in need and the surge in local humanitarian organizations all suggest the intimate relation between donor and recipient. [9]

Emergency response

Today, humanitarianism is particularly used to describe the thinking and doctrines behind the emergency response to humanitarian crises. In such cases it argues for a humanitarian response based on humanitarian principles, particularly the principle of humanity. Nicholas de Torrente, former Executive Director of Médecins Sans Frontières USA writes:

"The most important principles of humanitarian action are humanity, neutrality, independence and impartiality, which posits the conviction that all people have equal dignity by virtue of their being human based solely on need, without discrimination among recipients. Humanitarian organizations must refrain from taking part in hostilities or taking actions that advantage one side of the conflict over another, the action serves the interests of political, religious, or other agendas.

These fundamental principles serve two essential purposes. They embody humanitarian action’s single-minded purpose of alleviating suffering, unconditionally and without any ulterior motive. They also serve as background document to develop operational tools that help in obtaining both the consent of communities for the presence and activities of humanitarian organizations, particularly in highly volatile contexts." [10]

Digital humanitarianism

In 2005, a question was raised as to whether Wikipedia can be seen as digital humanitarianism. [11] [12]

Patrick Meier used the term 'digital humanitarianism' to describe crowdmapping for the 2010 Haiti earthquake. [13] [14] [15] In 2011, Paul Conneally gave a TED talk on digital humanitarianism in which he states that humanitarianism's "origins are firmly rooted in the analogue age" with "a major shift coming". [16] [17] In 2015 he authored the book Digital Humanitarians: How Big Data Is Changing the Face of Humanitarian Response.

Vincent Fevrier notes that "social media can benefit the humanitarian sector... by providing information to give better situational awareness to organisations for broad strategic planning and logistics" and that "crisis mapping really emerged in 2010 during the Haiti earthquake" with "software and digital humanitarian platforms such as Standby Task Force, OpenStreetMap, and many others" being active during many disasters since then. [18]

In fact, the role of social media in digital humanitarian efforts is a considerable one. Ten days after the 2010 earthquake, the "Hope for Haiti Now" telethon event was launched in the United States, effectively taking over the mediasphere and reaching hundreds of millions of households and viewers. It focused on appealing to the viewing public's empathy for the survivors of the disaster, allowing ordinary citizens to help in a collective relief effort by contributing money donations to NGOs providing Humanitarian aid to earthquake survivors. [19] [20] The telethon attracted support through a variety of celebrity musical performances and staged calls for empathy, using digital social networks to disseminate its appeal to the moral responsibility of the viewer-consumers who are able to reinforce identification with a national identity of the American 'savior' through participation in this Humanitarian project.

During the summer of 2010, when open fires raged across Russia, causing many to die from smog inhalation, [21] the use of social media allowed digital humanitarians to map the areas in need of support. This is because Russians who were hoping to be evacuated were posting online about the conditions they were in which prompted thousands of Russian bloggers to coordinate relief efforts online. [21] The digital humanitarian efforts in Russia were crucial to responding to the fires in 2010 considering the Russian government was vastly unprepared to deal with such a large-scale disaster. [21]

Within digital humanitarianism, big data has featured strongly in efforts to improve digital humanitarian work and produces a limited understanding of how a crisis is unfolding. It has been argued that Big Data is constitutive of a social relation in which digital humanitarians claim both the formal humanitarian sector and victims of crises need the services and labor that can be provided by digital humanitarians. [22]

Examples of humanitarianism

Examples of humanitarianism can include: [23] [24] [25] [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

The music of Haiti combines a wide range of influences drawn from the many people who have settled on this Caribbean island. It reflects French, African rhythms, Spanish elements and others who have inhabited the island of Hispaniola and minor native Taino influences. Styles of music unique to the nation of Haiti include music derived from rara parading music, twoubadou ballads, mini-jazz rock bands, rasin movement, hip hop Creòle, the wildly popular compas, and méringue as its basic rhythm. Haitian music is influenced mostly by European colonial ties and African migration. In the case of European colonization, musical influence has derived primarily from the French.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humanitarian aid</span> Material or logistical assistance for people in need

Humanitarian aid is material and logistic assistance to people who need help. It is usually short-term help until the long-term help by the government and other institutions replaces it. Among the people in need are the homeless, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Humanitarian relief efforts are provided for humanitarian purposes and include natural disasters and human-made disasters. The primary objective of humanitarian aid is to save lives, alleviate suffering, and maintain human dignity. It may, therefore, be distinguished from development aid, which seeks to address the underlying socioeconomic factors which may have led to a crisis or emergency. There is a debate on linking humanitarian aid and development efforts, which was reinforced by the World Humanitarian Summit in 2016. However, the conflation is viewed critically by practitioners.

Moral economy is a way of viewing economic activity in terms of its moral, rather than material, aspects. The concept was developed in 1971 by British Marxist social historian and political activist E. P. Thompson in his essay, "The Moral Economy of the English Crowd in the Eighteenth Century". He referred to a specific class struggle in a specific era, seen from the perspective of the poorest citizens—the "crowd".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">American Red Cross</span> American nonprofit humanitarian organization

The American National Red Cross, is a nonprofit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the designated US affiliate of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the United States movement to the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Natural disasters in China</span>

Natural disasters in China are the result of several different natural hazards that affect the country according to its particular geographic and geologic features affecting both humans and animals.

The Code of Conduct for International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and NGOs in Disaster Relief was drawn up in 1992 by the Steering Committee for Humanitarian Response (SCHR) to set ethical standards for organizations involved in humanitarian work. In 1994, the SCHR adopted the code and made the signing of it a condition for membership in the alliance.

There are a number of meanings for the term humanitarian. Here, humanitarian pertains to the practice of saving lives and alleviating suffering. It is usually related to emergency response whether in the case of a natural disaster or a man-made disaster such as war or other armed conflict. Humanitarian principles govern the way humanitarian response is carried out.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies</span> Humanitarian organization

The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) is a worldwide humanitarian aid organization that reaches 160 million people each year through its 191 member National Societies. It acts before, during and after disasters and health emergencies to meet the needs and improve the lives of vulnerable people. It does so independently and with impartiality as to nationality, race, gender, religious beliefs, class and political opinions.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humanity First</span> International non-governmental organization

Humanity First is an international charity that provides disaster relief and long term development assistance to vulnerable communities in 52 countries across 6 continents. The organisation is run by volunteers with diverse skillsets across the world and has access to thousands of extra volunteers worldwide. Volunteer staff in all areas often pay their own expenses to support the international projects.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mongolian Red Cross Society</span> Mongolian humanitarian organization

The Mongolian Red Cross Society is the largest humanitarian organization in Mongolia. It was established in 1939 as part of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and is an auxiliary to the Mongolian Government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humanitarian response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake</span>

The response to the 2010 Haiti earthquake included national governments, charitable and for-profit organizations from around the world which began coordinating humanitarian aid designed to help the Haitian people. Some countries arranged to send relief and rescue workers and humanitarian supplies directly to the earthquake damage zones, while others sought to organize national fund raising to provide monetary support for the nonprofit groups working directly in Haiti. OCHA coordinates and tracks this on a daily basis. The information is disseminated through the UN news and information portal, ReliefWeb. As of September 5, 2013, ReliefWeb have reported a total relief funding of $3.5 billion given.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 Haiti earthquake</span> Magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake

The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake that struck Haiti at 16:53 local time on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest department, approximately 25 kilometres (16 mi) west of Port-au-Prince, Haiti's capital.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Humanitarian response by non-governmental organizations to the 2010 Haiti earthquake</span>

The humanitarian responses by non-governmental organizations to the 2010 Haiti earthquake included many organisations, such as international, religious, and regionally based NGOs, which immediately pledged support in the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake. Besides a large multi-contingency contribution by national governments, NGOs contributed significantly to both on-the-ground rescue efforts and external solicitation of aid for the rescue efforts.

This article describes humanitarian responses from "for-profit" organizations, such as business corporations, following the January 12, 2010, earthquake in Haiti.

NetHope, Inc. is a global consortium of nearly 60 global nonprofit organizations that specializes in improving IT connectivity among humanitarian organizations in developing countries and areas affected by disaster. The organization has partnerships with Accenture, Amazon, Cisco, Facebook, Google, Microsoft, Oracle NetSuite and more than 60 leading technology companies. Its humanitarian development, emergency response, and conservation programs are in place in 180 countries. It was founded in 2001.

Relief 2.0 or disaster relief 2.0 is the deployment of digital information techniques in the management of disaster relief.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Digital Humanitarian Network</span>

The Digital Humanitarian Network is a consortium allowing Volunteer and Technical Communities (V&TCs) to interface with humanitarian organizations that seek their services.

<i>Hard Choices</i> (Moore book) 1998 non-fiction compilation book edited by Jonathan Moore

Hard Choices: Moral Dilemmas in Humanitarian Intervention is a non-fiction compilation book about humanitarianism on the international arena, edited by Jonathan Moore. Noteworthy contributors to the book include: Kofi A. Annan, Rony Brauman, Romeo A. Dallaire, Richard J. Goldstone, J. Bryan Hehir, Michael Ignatieff, Ian Martin, Elizabeth Reid, Mohamed Sahnoun, Mu Sochua, Cornelio Sommaruga, Roger Williamson, and José Zalaquett. It was published in paperback format by Rowman & Littlefield in 1998.

Hope for Haiti Now: A Global Benefit for Earthquake Relief was a charity telethon held on January 22, 2010, from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. The telethon was the most widely distributed telethon in history. The event was broadcast from Studio 36 at CBS Television City in Los Angeles, Kaufman Astoria Studios in Queens, New York and a private club, The Hospital, in London. There were also live reports from Haiti.

Lilie Chouliaraki is a professor in Media and Communications at the London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE). Chouliaraki’s main area of research is the mediation of human vulnerability and suffering. She empirically explores how the media affects our moral and political relationships with distant others in the sense that it affects how we see the vulnerability of other people and how we are asked to feel, think and act toward them.

References

  1. ↑ Götz, Norbert; Brewis, Georgina; Werther, Steffen (2020). Humanitarianism in the Modern World: The Moral Economy of Famine Relief. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781108655903 . ISBN   9781108655903. p. 3
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Barnett, Michael (2011). Empire of Humanity: A History of Humanitarianism. Cornell University Press. doi:10.7591/j.ctt7z8ns. ISBN   978-0-8014-4713-6.
  3. 1 2 3 Finnemore, Martha (2003). The Purpose of Intervention: Changing Beliefs about the Use of Force. Cornell University Press. doi:10.7591/j.ctt24hg32. ISBN   978-0-8014-3845-5.
  4. ↑ Parmelee, Maurice (1915). "The Rise of Modern Humanitarianism". American Journal of Sociology. 21 (3): 345–359. ISSN   0002-9602.
  5. ↑ Barnett, Michael N. (2013). "Humanitarian Governance". Annual Review of Political Science. 16 (1): 379–398. doi:10.1146/annurev-polisci-012512-083711. ISSN   1094-2939.
  6. ↑ "International Committee of the Red Cross". 3 October 2013. Archived from the original on 10 March 2009. Retrieved 8 June 2017.
  7. ↑ Weinbren, Dan (1994). "Against All Cruelty: The Humanitarian League, 1891-1919". History Workshop (38): 86–105. ISSN   0309-2984. JSTOR   4289320.
  8. ↑ Götz, Norbert; Brewis, Georgina; Werther, Steffen (2020). Humanitarianism in the Modern World: The Moral Economy of Famine Relief. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. doi: 10.1017/9781108655903 . ISBN   9781108655903. p. 307
  9. ↑ Feldman, Ilana (2018). Life lived in relief : humanitarian predicaments and Palestinian refugee politics. Oakland, California. p. 196. ISBN   978-0-520-97128-8. OCLC   1043049820.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  10. ↑ "Harvard Law School Human Rights Journal -". law.harvard.edu. Archived from the original on 15 June 2007. Retrieved 28 June 2007.
  11. ↑ Pink, Daniel H. "The Book Stops Here". WIRED. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  12. ↑ Koerner, Brendan I. (9 August 2006). The Best of Technology Writing 2006. University of Michigan Press. ISBN   0472031953 . Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  13. ↑ Shringarpure, Bhakti (18 June 2015). "The rise of the digital saviour: can Facebook likes change the world?". The Guardian . Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  14. ↑ "Crisis Mapping Pioneer Focuses on Humanitarian Uses For Drones". NPR.org. NPR. Archived from the original on 7 January 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  15. ↑ Meier, Patrick (2 July 2012). "How Crisis Mapping Saved Lives in Haiti". National Geographic Society (blogs). Archived from the original on 11 February 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  16. ↑ "Digital Humanitarianism". World Bank Group. Archived from the original on 7 January 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  17. ↑ Collins, Katie. "How AI, Twitter and digital volunteers are transforming humanitarian disaster response". Wired UK. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  18. ↑ Illingworth, Sarah (5 April 2016). "Is Digital Humanitarianism All Good?". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on 7 January 2017. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  19. ↑ McAlister, Elizabeth (2012). "Soundscapes of Disaster and Humanitarianism: Survival Singing, Relief Telethons, and the Haiti Earthquake" (PDF). Small Axe. 16 (3): 22–38. doi:10.1215/07990537-1894078. S2CID   144995319 . Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  20. ↑ McAlister, Elizabeth. "Soundscapes of Disaster and Humanitarianism: Survival Singing, Relief Telethons, and the Haiti Earthquake". bepress.com. Archived from the original on 4 October 2015. Retrieved 28 June 2019.
  21. 1 2 3 Meier, Patrick (2015). Digital Humanitarians. New York: Routledge. p. 49.
  22. ↑ Burns, Ryan (9 October 2014). "Rethinking big data in digital humanitarianism: practices, epistemologies, and social relations" (PDF). GeoJournal. 80 (4): 477–490. doi:10.1007/s10708-014-9599-x. S2CID   40297692. Archived (PDF) from the original on 6 July 2016. Retrieved 6 January 2017.
  23. ↑ Donini, Antonio (1 June 2010). "Humanitarianism in the 21st Century". Humanitaire. Enjeux, pratiques, débats (in French) (25). ISSN   1624-4184.
  24. ↑ Hilhorst, Dorothea (10 September 2018). "Classical humanitarianism and resilience humanitarianism: making sense of two brands of humanitarian action". Journal of International Humanitarian Action. 3 (1): 15. doi: 10.1186/s41018-018-0043-6 . hdl: 1765/110839 . ISSN   2364-3404.
  25. ↑ "Humanitarianism: An Overview". CMI - Chr. Michelsen Institute. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
  26. ↑ Buse, Kent; Tanaka, Sonja (7 November 2020). "Global Public-Private Health Partnerships: lessons learned from ten years of experience and evaluation". International Dental Journal. 61 (Suppl 2): 2–10. doi:10.1111/j.1875-595X.2011.00034.x. ISSN   0020-6539. PMC   9374971 . PMID   21770935.
  27. ↑ Mazurana, Dyan; Benelli, Prisca; Walker, Peter (July 2013). "How sex- and age-disaggregated data and gender and generational analyses can improve humanitarian response" . Disasters. 37 (s1): S68-82. doi:10.1111/disa.12013. ISSN   0361-3666. PMID   23905768.

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