Aidnography

Every two weeks I am going to feature one of the chapters of our Handbook onHumanitarianism and Inequality which was published in spring 2024. This week we are taking a closer look at Chapter 17 - Sexuality and humanitarianism: colonial ‘hauntings’ contributed by Shweta M. Adur. From the introduction This chapter examines the discursive inter-connections between humanitarianism, sexuality, and the colonial experience to reveal enduring influences of colonial ideals of sex and sexuality on contemporary humanitarianism. In the first section, I begin by describing how ‘sexualities’ emerged as a mode of ‘modern’ governance in Europe. I trace its gendered and racialised contours to describe the ways in which it was deployed to establish the superiority of white, cis-gendered, and heterosexual masculinity. The second section, builds on the discussion to demonstrate the deeply sexualised, gendered, and racialised processes of conquest and colonialism. The colonial administration served as ...

Every two weeks I am going to feature one of the chapters of our Handbook on Humanitarianism and Inequality which was published in spring 2024. This week we are taking a closer look at Chapter 16 - Humanitarian organisations as gendered organisations - contributed by Rianka Roy. From the introduction Humanitarian organisations are aid agencies and advocacy groups working internationally, nationally, and locally to support distressed populations. They bring together a range of activities and coalitions ( Möller et al., 2020 ) among United Nations agencies, international and national non-government organisations, communities, and other bilateral groups. Humanitarian organisations can be ‘multi-mandated’, combining development work, emergency relief during natural disasters and conflicts, peacebuilding, and human rights work ( Mosse, 2011 ; Harcourt, 2016 ). Although they provide aid to populations in crisis, quite paradoxically, humanitarian organisations themselves perpetuate structu...