Reading Northern/Western historiography of humanitarianism critically : revisiting selected foundational moments

Abstract

This chapter revisits three key milestones in the history of humanitarian action as it is traditionally told: the anti-slavery movement, famine prevention in colonial India, and the evolution of the Geneva Conventions after the Second World War. It argues that Northern/Western historiography of humanitarian action tends to overplay Northern agency and the ‘humanitarian’ character of Northern actors in these three emblematic cases. The reason can be found in the very concept of an international political history of humanitarian action. Writing an international political history of humanitarian action is tricky. Not only for the reason that perhaps most obviously comes to mind: the bewildering array of actors, events and developments that have occurred over the last several centuries and that cannot possibly be summarised in a book chapter. But it is thorny for more fundamental reasons, too, reasons related to the very notion of an ‘international political history of humanitarian action’. [extract]