Titelaufnahme

This volume explores the history of humanitarian aid revealing fundamental dilemmas inherent in humanitarian practice for more than a century. The contributions analyse humanitarianism from the point of view of Europe and the West, and from the colonies and the Third World, revealing uneven developments and contingencies of change. Emphasis is put on the coming together of different forces, events, and structures at particular times, explaining the dilemmas faced up to the present day.0The historical studies in this volume are based on multi-archival research. They start with the foundations of international humanitarianism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, highlighting state interests, religious motivations and imperial reform. From these beginnings, humanitarian aid grew strongly in volume and organization during the first half of the twentieth century. The contributions show developments in the shadow of colonialism and two world wars covering Europe, northern Africa, China and transatlantic relations. After 1945 humanitarian practice stood at the intersection of Cold War and decolonization. Wars of independence, direct confrontations between East and West in the Third World, and the growth of development policy affected humanitarian practice, its scope and challenges. The most recent period of global humanitarianism is explored in essays on the role of non-Western areas in humanitarian governance, relations between concern for others and the self in prominent global organizations, and the practice of aid workers on the spot