This thesis seeks to explore how humanitarian communication produces subjectivities for individuals. More specifically, it investigates how the innocent modern/colonial humanitarian subject is produced through appeals to emotions. To explore this phenomenon, this thesis develops a decolonial research approach grounded in epistemic disobedience. As such, it first disrupts the binary between rationality and emotions by focusing on the roles of compassion, anger and guilt in the making of the innocent humanitarian subject. Second, it presents autoethnography and storytelling as entry doors into disobeying the binary between subject and object of research. The analysis of the autoethnography is presented in different modes of analysis, between creative and more traditional social science writings. The analysis shows that guilt and knowledge permit to partially defeat the stance of innocence produced by humanitarian communication. Additionally, by recentring racism and European colonialism/imperialism as central to the study of humanitarianism, this thesis demonstrates the importance of adopting decolonial research strategies to defeat persisting structures of inequality.

No description available.

Thesis (MPhil (Sustainable Development Planning and Management))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / The objective of this thesis was to investigate the state of individual philanthropy in South Africa in the post–apartheid, post–1994 transformative period of this country, and to explore and try to understand this practice within the wider context of trends in contemporary global philanthropy. The germ for this thesis came from a recognition that individual philanthropy on a global level is a burgeoning phenomenon with an increasingly important impact, and that this type of giving could also be a powerful resource for South Africa as this new democracy begins to tackle its social and economic problems. This study was informed by primary and secondary data. I used a research strategy and methodology that entailed in-depth interviews with six prominent South African businesspeople who have each given generously from their own resources to address the country‘s major problems: poverty and inequality, capacity-building and jobs creation, education, the HIV-AIDs pandemic, and other poverty-related ills. The results of my research furnished new insights into the practice of individual philanthropy and confirmed that this practice happens in a unique context: the cultural and historical environment within which people‘s lives unfold is the key influence and impetus that informs their giving. While learning about global strategies is important for understanding how the development discourse is developing, these external strategies do not provide the template for South African philanthropy. In South Africa, individuals from diverse backgrounds are independently practicing philanthropy by developing their own unique set of strategies based on their life experience, rather than pursuing strategies that were reached through collaborative dialogue and a mutually agreed-upon approach. Each context is unique and these individuals have developed their own strategies for giving that make sense and work for them. This research is important as South Africa searches for solutions to its pressing problems because it adds to the body of knowledge that could be used to formulate policy and strategic choices for the future of this country. The development discourse increasingly includes individual philanthropy as an integral part of the ―mix‖ of solutions being pursued to eradicate poverty and other social ills; the further development of individual philanthropy in South Africa to become more strategic and transformative is critical. This development is the next step in future research.

This thesis concerns the history of humanitarian nutrition and its political implications. Drawing on aid agency archives and other historical sources, it examines how food has been delivered in emergencies, from the First World War to the present day. The approach is ethnographic: this is a study of the micro-level practices of relief, examining the objects distributed, the plans made, the techniques used. It is also historical: examining how such practices have changed over time. This thesis makes five interlocking arguments. First, I make a political point: that humanitarian action is always political, and that it is impossible to adhere to ‘classical’ humanitarian principles such as neutrality, impartiality and independence. Second, I make a sociological argument: that the activities of humanitarian nutrition have been shaped by a number of themes, which include militarism, medicine, modernity, and markets. Third, I make a historical argument: that the main features of humanitarian nutrition were solidified between the 1930s and the 1970s, and were largely in place by the time of the Biafran war. Fourth, I make a sociological argument: that these mid-century changes involved a profound redefinition of hunger and food (with hunger conceived as a biochemical deficiency, and food as a collection of nutrients). Finally, I make a normative argument, suggesting that this redefinition has not necessarily benefited the starving: the provision of food in emergencies, I argue, is often concerned with control and efficiency rather than the suffering individuals themselves.

Afin de saisir le contexte du phénomène de l’expatriation d’Occidentaux en Inde, nous relevons d’abord certains traits de la modernité occidentale, tels le sentiment d’aliénation, le tournant subjectiviste, la globalisation et les principaux mythes-modèles de l’Inde qui circulent dans les pays occidentaux et donnent naissance aux projets d’expatriation. Une approche expérientielle facilite la compréhension de l’expatriation telle qu’elle est vécue par les acteurs. La collecte de données ethnographiques permet de saisir ces expériences à partir de récits recueillis dans trois zones frontière : 1) à Rishikesh, auprès d’expatriés spirituels; 2) à Calcutta, auprès d’expatriés humanitaires; 3) à Goa, auprès d’expatriés hédonistes-expressifs cherchant à améliorer leur style de vie. Ces données ethnographiques sont présentées dans trois chapitres distincts. Un chapitre comparatif met ensuite en relief quelques points de convergence dans l’expérience des expatriés, soit l’insertion locale au sein de communautés spécifiques, fortement associées à des mythes-modèles de l’Inde; le renouveau identitaire découlant de l’expérience interculturelle; et finalement, l’impact du transnationalisme sur la consolidation du malaise face à la modernité. La discussion théorique présente les solutions mises en branle par les expatriés pour tempérer leur malaise par rapport à l’Occident, soit : 1) l’engagement en profondeur dans un mode de vie permettant de se réaliser selon ses propres aspirations; 2) le regroupement par affinités et l’adoption d’un rôle social clair; 3) l’affranchissement de la pression sociale et l’adoption de pratiques transnationales permettant de préserver une continuité affective avec les proches tout en endossant un statut d’étranger. L’étude révèle aussi qu’on ne peut faire abstraction de l’histoire des relations de l’Occident avec le sous-continent pour comprendre les relations interculturelles des expatriés occidentaux avec les Indiens locaux. Enfin, les privilèges socioéconomiques des Occidentaux en Inde sont clairement identifiés comme étant une condition essentielle de leurs projets d’expatriation, ceux-ci étant néanmoins motivés principalement par un sentiment d’épuisement culturel face à l’Occident et à son mode de vie. Faisant suite à l’analyse des points de vue critiques sur la modernité (renforcés par l’expérience d’altérité), la thèse s’achève sur l’évocation de quelques pistes de recherche pour une anthropologie de l’Occident, tout en interrogeant, implicitement, le projet anthropologique. / The expatriation of Westerners in India is a sociocultural phenomenon, and I shall first highlight a few characteristics of modernity in the West - the feeling of alienation, the subjective turn, globalisation as well as the most significant mythical models of India - to understand which conditions provide the impulse to expatriation projects. An experiential approach will then enable me to understand how expatriation is lived by the actors concerned. Ethnographic data collected in India in three different borderzones give me access to these experiences. Accounts were collected : 1) in Rishikesh with spiritual expatriates; 2) in Calcutta with humanitarian expatriates; and 3) in Goa with hedonistic-expressive expatriates seeking a new lifestyle. These accounts are presented in three different chapters. Following these, a comparative chapter focuses on convergence among the three types of expatriation : local insertion within specific communities highly associated with significant myth models of India; self-renewal deriving from cultural encounters; and lastly, impact of transnationalism on the reinforcement of the malaise of modernity experienced by those I interviewed. The theoretical argument presents the general answers that expatriates find to alleviate their malaise of modernity : 1) a deep commitment to a lifestyle that allows them to find fulfilment according to their own aspirations; 2) gathering with people sharing the same interests and commitment to a clearly defined social role; and 3) liberation from social pressure and integration of transnational practices allowing them to protect affective ties while adopting a convenient outsider status. The study also reveals that we cannot set aside the history of Western encounters with India if we want to understand specific encounters of Westerners with local Indians. While Western socioeconomic privileges in India are clearly described as a basic condition for expatriation, I nevertheless conclude that expatriation is mainly motivated by a feeling of cultural exhaustion with Western lifestyles. Analysis of critical standpoints on modernity (reinforced by cultural encounters) finally leads me to formulate some avenues that need to be explored to develop an anthropology of the West, meanwhile implicitly calling into question the anthropological project.

This dissertation examines how the Global Peace Film Festival of Orlando, Florida, facilitates the construction of cosmopolitan identities within the context of humanitarianism and activism. An expansion of the notion of "peace"to include multiple levels of meaning is crucial to the identity of the festival, as it allows the screening of an array of films that appeal to the broad range of spectators and community organizations that interact with the event. Within the context of the Global Peace Film Festival, various discourses surrounding peace participate in the process of cognitively mapping the world and situating the self within it as a cosmopolitan citizen. The centrality of the self is key to understanding how audiences create solidarity with the other, and how they might choose to respond to appeals for humanitarian aid. The contemporary humanitarian imaginary builds solidarity between the viewer and the other-in-need in a manner that is rooted in self-reflection, creating an ironic spectator of vulnerable others and setting the stage for solutions to humanitarian problems that fit into personal lifestyle choices. This study examines the complexity inherent to the articulation between producers, audiences and films, and how meaning is negotiated on a local level. Witnessing and testimonial are key practices for engaging spectators, and the testimonial encounter has a transformative power for audiences that may be channeled into various responses to calls for action. An emerging practice is significant as well, a new situatedness of the documentary filmmaker as a central figure in the promotion of both films and humanitarian causes. This practice provides a role for the filmmaker as both entrepreneur and activist, easing the tension between the goals of humanitarianism and capitalistic concerns, while positioning the film as a tool rather than an aesthetic object and echoing the preeminence of self in our contemporary society. The Global Peace Film festival takes an innovative approach to promoting change, moving from a traditional exhibition model to an "engagement" model that focuses on the involvement of the local community. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

Cette étude porte sur la participation des organisations catholiques dans le développement des politiques sociales visant les immigrants et les réfugiés résidant au Brésil. Je discute des questions du gouvernement et de la souveraineté et sa relation avec les actions humanitaires et caritatives. Le suivi des activités de l´Instance Permanente sur la Mobilité Humaine de Rio Grande do Sul (FPMH/RS), Porto Alegre, a permis une appróche de l’univers des acteurs religieux impliqués dans la promotion de la citoyenneté et la protection des immigrants. Plus précisément, la thèse examine l’emergence et l’expansion d’une congregation catholique dont le charisme reside dans la migration; ce sont les scalabrinien frères et soeurs, ordre fondé à la fin du XIX siècle par João Batista Scalabrini. La recherche a réalisé une cartographie des agents et des institutions de protection sociale, en mettant l’ accent sur les organisations catholiques conduisant le domaine humanitaire. D’où l’importance relative à la Missão Paz, institution situé à São Paulo qui a pris la plupart des “nouveaux immigrants”. Devant la croissance des flux des Caraïbes et d’Afrique, j’ai remarqué à la fois une perspective qui a defini ces mouvements comme une “menace” et un discours par lequel il était destiné a contrer um monde civilisé et un monde barbare (Suite)Ainsi, un des points que je souligne dans ce travail fait référence à la complicité entre la civilisation et la brutalité. L’immigration est une question historique complexe et controversé; j’essaie de montrer que ce domaine est devenu different, au cours des deux derniers siècles, par l’inclusion de nouveaux vêtements et références conceptuelles, en maintenant, cependant, continuités avec la logique stigmatisante du passé. Une question qui m’a mobilisé pour mener l’étude était d´étudier les technologies de contrôle et les normes de conduite des personnes en déplacement, ainsi que le regime du pouvoir/savoir dans le calcul de confinement et de la solidarité humanitaire. Em bref, guidée par une perspective ethnographique et historique, j’examine: i) l’interface entre les politiques internationales et les pratiques humanitaires et; ii) la façon dont les acteurs sociaux, en particulier religieux, convertissent les discours dominants dans les micro-pratiques de la gestion des arguments moraux qui soutiennent, en grande partie, des décisions politiques inscrits au phénomène de la mobilité humaine contemporaine. / O presente trabalho investiga a participação de organizações católicas no desenvolvimento de políticas sociais voltadas a imigrantes e refugiados residentes no Brasil. Discuto a problemática do governo e da soberania e sua relação com ações humanitárias e assistenciais. O acompanhamento das atividades do Fórum Permanente de Mobilidade Humana do Rio Grande do Sul (FPMH/RS) de Porto Alegre permitiu uma aproximação ao universo dos atores religiosos que atuam na promoção da cidadania e na proteção a imigrantes. Em termos específicos, a tese analisa o surgimento e a expansão de uma congregação católica cujo carisma encontra-se nas migrações; trata-se dos irmãos e irmãs scalabrinianos, ordem fundada, no fim do século XIX, por João Batista Scalabrini. A pesquisa realizou um mapeamento dos agentes e instituições assistenciais, com foco nas organizações católicas que lideram o campo do acolhimento humanitário. Daí o relativo realce conferido à Missão Paz, instituição localizada em São Paulo, que acolheu a maior parte dos chamados “novos imigrantes”. Diante do crescimento do fluxo de caribenhos e africanos, observou-se tanto uma perspectiva que definiu tais movimentos como uma “ameaça” quanto um discurso pelo qual se pretendeu contrapor um mundo civilizado e um mundo bárbaro Por isso, um dos pontos que sublinho neste trabalho refere-se à cumplicidade entre civilização e brutalidade. A imigração é um tema historicamente controverso e complexo; procuro demonstrar que este campo transformou-se, nos dois últimos séculos, pela inclusão de novas roupagens e referências conceituais, mantendo, porém, continuidade com lógicas estigmatizantes do passado. Uma questão que me mobilizou a realizar o estudo foi averiguar as tecnologias de controle e de normalização da conduta das populações em mobilidade, bem como o regime de poder/saber presente no cálculo de contenção e de solidariedade do governo humanitário. Em suma, orientado por uma perspectiva etnográfica e histórica, examino: i) a interface entre políticas internacionais e práticas humanitárias, com destaque especial para o combate ao tráfico de pessoas e; ii) o modo através do qual atores sociais, especialmente religiosos, convertem discursos dominantes em micropráticas mediante o manejo de argumentos morais que, em grande parte, sustentam as decisões políticas arroladas ao fenômeno contemporâneo da mobilidade humana. / This paper investigates the participation of catholic organizations in the development of social policies aimed at immigrants and refugees residing in Brazil. I discuss the problems of the government and sovereignty and their relationship with humanitarian and assistance actions. The monitoring of the activities of the Permanent Forum on Human Mobility of Rio Grande do Sul (FPMH/RS) in Porto Alegre allowed an approach to the universe of religious actors who work to promote citizenship and to protect imigrants. In specific terms, the thesis analyzes the emergence and expansion of a catholic congregation whose charism is founded on migrations; these are the scalabrinian priests and sisters, an order founded at the end of the 19th century by João Batista Scalabrini. The research carried out a mapping of agents and care institutions, focusing on the catholic organizations that lead the field of humanitarian care. Hence the relative importante given to the Missão Paz, an institution located in São Paulo which welcomed most of the so-called “new immigrants”. Faced with the growth of the Caribbean and African flows, I observed both a perspective that defined these movements as a “threat” as also a discourse by which it was intended to oppose a civilized world and a barbaric world For this reason, one of the points I emphasize in this work is the complicity between civilization and brutality. Immigration is a historically controversial and complex issue. I try to demonstrate that this field has become different in the last two centuries by the inclusion of new clothes and conceptual references, maintaining, however, continuity with stigmatizing logics of the past. One issue that mobilized me to carry out this study was to investigate the technologies of control and standardization of the conduct of the populations in mobility, as well as the regime of power/knowledge involved in the calculation of the containment and solidarity in the humanitarian government. In short, guided by an ethnographic and historical perspective, I examine: i) the interface between international policies and humanitarian practices, with particular emphasis on combating trafficking in persons and; ii) the way in wich social actors, especially religious ones, convert dominant discourses into micropractices by handling moral arguments that, in large part, underpin the political decisions related to the contemporary phenomenon of human mobility.

This thesis in anthropology investigates how emergency is socially constituted as a named and actionable entity. Specifically, it asks how human values and techno-scientific practices contribute to the constitution of emergency in the context of medical humanitarian intervention. The study considers emergency from an ethnographic perspective, as a group of international medical humanitarian practitioners from the aid group Médecins San Frontières (MSF) come to understand and respond to the 2013 outbreak of armed conflict in South Sudan and the potential for mass starvation among certain groups within that country. Through the method of participant observation, it examines how emergency is understood or constituted at three different conceptual levels: at the level of the individual clinical encounter, the level of population statistics, and the level of political representations of crisis. By extension, it inquires as to how professional formation and moral categories determine appropriate response. The study reveals how values, ethics and conceptions of "the good" are embodied in-yet imperfectly translated through-numerical measures and institutional structures. This reveals a key paradox of medical humanitarianism: that rational, technocratic institutions simultaneously enable and debilitate the goals and means of humanitarian action. This study is based on 11 months of fieldwork (Oct 2013-Sept 2014) with the Amsterdam operational section of MSF. The fieldwork was multi-sited; it included participant observation of MSF activities in Amsterdam (The Netherlands), Juba, Leer and Bentiu (South Sudan).

No description available.

<p>The issue of humanitarian intervention presents a perennial conundrum and is one of the hottest topics in contemporary international relations. It contains aspects of both idealism and realism and is largely an issue born out of the end of the Cold War. This paper provides a theoretical and empirical evaluation of this normative shift in interstate affairs.</p><p>The vast growing body of human rights law serves as one indication that international law is changing in terms of a shift of focus, away from states, and towards the international community made up of individuals. However, in absence of a formal agreement on how and to what scope international law has changed, conclusions can only be made based on the emerging, limited and fragile body of state and UN practices. If such a shift were to be accompanied by a corresponding empirical transformation, it would undoubtedly represent a huge leap forward towards a more solidarist underpinned world order. The present trends within international relations represent at least an aspiration towards some more clearly envisioned solidarity. As international actors interact, they generate new norms, but one must remember that the actors and their practices are themselves products of older norms. The present structures of international society are not ready to accommodate such change.</p><p>Human rights are important, not only because they become embedded in institutions and create new coalitions between actors, but also because they help states redefine their national interests and identities, as well as help them to choose among conflicting priorities such as sovereignty and humanity. Under the present global system, any discussion of the international protection of human rights and humanitarian intervention implies changes in both norms and practices. The theoretical part of this paper provides a framework for assessing these recent developments by determining first, how and why values are shared, and what these values need to be in order for international society to be categorized as solidarist. The empirical part, then moves on to assess state and UN practice in order to conclude if solidarism is a reality in today’s international society.</p><p>In this paper, I argue that there is an international consensus in terms of a right to humanitarian intervention in cases of threats against international peace and security and where the UN S.C has given its authorization. Furthermore, even though not clearly establishing any such right to intervention, cases like East Timor, northern Iraq and Kosovo points to a normative shift where the redefinition of the concept of sovereignty might become a reality. This new consensus is a product of mainly three recent developments: a more expansive interpretation of the S.C on what constitutes a threat to international peace and security, the revolution of information technology that has heightened awareness of conflict and suffering, and the increased robustness of international human rights norms. While diversity continues to characterize the 21st century, there is a greater degree of consensus on the meaning of sovereignty and human rights today than most pluralists suggest. Nevertheless, the practical behaviour of the international community shows that the commitment to solidarism remains minimal.</p>