Humanitarian Futures

Polly Pallister-Wilkins, Elisa Pascucci, Lisa Ann Richey, James Smith, Lewis Turner, Tammam Aloudat, William Plowright

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingBook chapterResearchpeer-review

Abstract

This chapter grows out of an engagement between scholars and practitioners interested and invested in questions about humanitarian futures, that is, questions around the future of humanitarianism as both a normative, ethical commitment to life and a practice concerned with saving lives, relieving suffering, and upholding human dignity. These urgent questions are increasingly being considered by scholars and practitioners. While there is an ever-growing body of work concerned with the politics of humanitarianism, both as a normative ideal and as a practice of intervention, recent interventions related to decolonizing humanitarianism have been keen to stress the importance of understanding the differences between them. Recent exposes made by those who have worked in the humanitarian industry have shone a light on the racist and white supremacist practices rooted in humanitarianism’s liberal universalizing claims. Shining a light on racism and white supremacy in the humanitarian industry requires an interrogation of the human subject at the heart of humanitarianism.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Routledge International Handbook of Critical Philanthropy and Humanitarianism
EditorsKatharyne Mitchell, Polly Pallister-Wilkins
Number of pages13
Place of PublicationAbingdon
PublisherRoutledge
Publication date2023
Pages292-304
Chapter22
ISBN (Print)9780367741044, 9780367755034
ISBN (Electronic)9781003162711
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2023

Cite this