Disasters, Emergencies and Relief. Global Perspectives on the History of Humanitarian Interventionism since the 1970s

Mi, 12.10.2022 bis Fr, 14.10.2022
Institut für Zeitgeschichte München-Berlin
Leonrodstraße 46 B
80636 München
Deutschland

 

Leonrodstraße 46 B
80636 München

 

 

 

In recent years, scholars have produced a great number of studies dealing with the history of humanitarianism. Given humanitarianism’s multifaceted character, these studies intersect with a variety of other research fields that are currently in vogue, including the history of international politics, human rights, development, environment, sustainability, and (forced) migration. In addition to questions of periodization and of the importance of (colonial) traditions for postwar humanitarianism, scholars predominately examine the role states, non-state actors, civil society, international organizations, and the media play in humanitarian aid.

The conference aims to broaden the current state of research in three areas: First, by chronologically expanding the focus of case studies on humanitarian aid and humanitarian interventionism into the 1980s and 1990s. Second, by curating papers that deal with the so-called Global South, a region frequently afflicted by humanitarian emergencies since the 1970s. Third, by focusing on empirical case studies of key areas of emergency relief that are often interconnected and mutually dependent, namely hunger, refugees, and natural as well as man-made disasters.

By analyzing the interdependencies between local, regional, and global developments through empirical case studies, the conference offers new insights into key questions of humanitarian interventionism and aims to gain a better understanding of the history of humanitarianism in the contemporary period.