Handbook on Humanitarianism and Inequality - Chapter 17 - Sexuality and humanitarianism: colonial ‘hauntings’

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 the means through which Victorian ideals were codified and implemented in the rest of the world. Indigenous perceptions and practices of sex and sexuality were framed as degenerate/excessive to foreground racial difference in colonial settings and thereby legitimise European rule in the guise of humanitarian intervention (Aldrich, 2003; Smith, 2003; Gupta, 2008). For example, while same-sex sexuality is universal, colonisers believed it to be more excessive and more rampant in the colonies (Aldrich, 2003; Gupta, 2008). Section 3, then describes humanitarianism in the post-colonial/ contemporary era especially the continued dominance of the erstwhile colonisers through multilateral institutions such as the United Nations. This section also describes the landmark shifts that centered sex and sexuality in human rights and humanitarian work on a global platform. Finally, the fourth section, unpacks the ‘hauntings’ of colonialism by juxtaposing contemporary realities that mold the relationships between sexuality and humanitarianism and implicate humanitarian interventions with the colonial experience.

Note on contributor
Shweta M. Adur is an associate professor of sociology at California State University, Los Angeles. She received her BA in Sociology (Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi), MA in Sociology (Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi), MA in International Development (University of Pittsburgh), and PhD in Sociology (University of Connecticut).
She co-authored a book As the Leaves Turn Gold: Asian Americans and Experiences of Aging (Routledge, 2012) and has articles in anthologies and peer-reviewed journals such as Current Sociology and the Journal of Gender Studies.

Overviews are already available for the following chapters:
Introduction: humanitarianism and inequality – a re-orientation

Humanitarianism and colonialism

Humanitarianism and the global Cold War, 1945–1991

Humanitarianism and the new wars: humanitarianism, security, and securitisation

Humanitarianism, development and peace: a southern perspective

Localisation and the humanitarian sector

Human rights and humanitarianism

Humanitarian organisations: behemoths and butterflies

Faith actors in humanitarianism: dynamics and inequalities

Diaspora assistance  

Political solidarity movements and humanitarianism: lessons from Catalonia, Spain (1975–2020)

Subversive humanitarianism

Citizen’s groups and grassroots humanitarianism

Humanitarianism and the military

Race, racialisation, and coloniality in the humanitarian aid sector

Humanitarian organisations as gendered organisations