Garces Comparative Humanitarianism
Garces Comparative Humanitarianism
Garces Comparative Humanitarianism
It is now commonplace to hear that we live in a humanitarian age; but to what extent is
humanitarian practice coextensive with global and cultural politics today? This seminar
will explore how institutions and governments identify ‘states of emergency’ in order to
safeguard populations and political alliances. But we will also consider the globally
mundane and quieter interventions that typically go unnoticed by way of humanitarian
aid. Our readings problematize gift exchange and the logic of sacrifice across charitable,
philanthropic, NGO, religious, and paeacekeeping efforts. Key topics include: the
gendered dynamics of aid distribution; the impact of philanthropy on private-public
balances of power; the role of displaced populations as biopolitical communities; and the
democratic applications of charity to mask imperial resemblances. We will together
challenge the ethical knot of using ‘voluntary actions’ as the basis of normative political
systems, highlighting contingencies and exploring paradoxes in humanitarian endeavors.
The student taking this course will leave it with a fuller command of the range of
humanitarian work taking place in today’s world.
COURSE STRUCTURE:
This seminar is divided into twelve weekly themes germane to the study of comparative
humanitarianism. Each week, seminar participants will be required to analyze a set of
core readings that have influenced directions in humanitarian critique. Every student will
also select one additional text from a list of elective readings—grouped under sub-
thematic headings—delivering a brief in-class presentation on how the these secondary
works build upon and/or modify our understanding of core weekly materials. The
curriculum allows for students to familiarize themselves with works relevant to the field
of international humanitarianism, complementing personal scholarly interests and critical
theoretical trajectories. The two major class assignments will include a scholarly book
review essay and a full-length research paper.
Readings:
• Barnett, Michael and Thomas G. Weiss. 2008. “Humanitarianism: A Brief History of the Present.” In:
Humanitarianism in Question: Politics, Power, Ethics. (eds. M. Barnett and T. Weiss.) Ithaca: Cornell
University Press, pp. 1-48.
• Kennedy, David. 2004. “Introduction.” The Dark Sides of Virtue: Reassessing International
Humanitarianism. Princeton. N.J. : Princeton University Press.
• Mauss, Marcel. 1925 The Gift (selections)
Elective:
• CHARITY PROBLEMATIZED
o Bornstein, Erica. 2009 “The Philanthropic Impulse” Cultural Anthropology v. 24, n. 4
o Garces, Chris & Alexander Jones. 2009. “Mauss Redux: From Warfare’s Human Toll to
l’homme total” Anthropological Quarterly Winter
o Marion, Jean-Luc. 2002. A Prolegomenon to Charity. New York: Fordham University
Press
o Heyd, Douglas. 1982. Supererogation: Its Status in Ethical Theory. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press
• THE POLITICS OF CARE UNDER CAPITALISM
o Haskell, T.L. 1985a. “Capitalism and the origins of the humanitarian sensibility.” Part 1,
American Historical Review 90(2) (April): 339–61.
o Haskell, T.L. 1985b. “Capitalism and the Origins of the Humanitarian Sensibility.” Part
2, American Historical Review 90(3 )(June): 547-566.
• HUMANITARIANISM AS POLICY?
o Rieff, David. 1995. “The Humanitarian Trap.” World Policy Journal Winter.
o Smillie, Ian. 2004. The Charity of Nations : Humanitarian Action in a Calculating World.
Bloomfield, CT : Kumarian Press.
Readings:
• Asad, Talal. 2003. Formations of the secular: Christianity, Islam, Modernity. Stanford: Stanford
University Press.
Elective:
• Foucault, Michel. 1990. The History of Sexuality v. 1: An Introduction. New York: Vintage
• Agamben, Giorgio. 1995. Homo Sacer. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
• Fassin, Didier. 2007a. “Humanitarianism as a Politics of Life.” Public Culture 19(3).
Elective:
Elective:
Course Readings:
Elective:
Readings:
Elective:
Readings:
• Pannikar, R. 1980. “Is the Notion of Human Rights a Western Concept?” Diogenes Vol. 120
• Cowan, Jane, R. Wilson and M. Dembour, eds. 2001. Culture and Rights: Anthropological
Perspectives. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• Wilson, Richard and Jon Mitchell. 2001. “Introduction: the Social Life of Rights.” In: (eds. R.
Wilson & J. Mitchell) Human Rights in Global Perspective: Anthropological Studies of Rights,
Claims and Entitlements New York: Routledge, pp. 1-16.
• Preis, Ann Belinda. 1996. “Human Rights as Cultural Practice: An Anthropological
Critique.” Human Rights Quarterly, 18:286-315.
Elective:
Readings:
• Pederson, Susan. 1991. “National Bodies, Unspeakable Acts: The Sexual Politics of Colonial
Policy-Making” Journal of Modern History 63: 647-680.
• Fitzgerald, Rosemary. 1997. “Rescue and Redemption – The Rise of Female Medical Missions in
Colonial India During the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries” In: (eds. A.M.
Rafferty, J. Robinson and R. Elkan) Nursing History and the Politics of Welfare pp. 64-79.
London: Routledge.
• Boddy, Janice. 2003. “Barbaric Custom and Colonial Science: Teaching the Female Body in
Anglo-Egyptian Sudan.” Social Analysis 47 (2): 60-81.
Elective:
Readings:
• Benthall, Jonathan. 1997. “The Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement and Islamic Societies,
with Special Reference to Jordan.” British Journal of Middle Eastern Studies. 24(2): 157.
• Redfield, Peter. 2006. “A Less Modest Witness.” American Ethnologist 33(1): 3-26.
• Calhoun, Craig. “The Imperative to Reduce Suffering: Charity, Progress, & Emergencies in the
Field of Humanitarian Action” In: (M. Barnett & T.G. Weiss, eds) Humanitarianism in Question:
Power, Politics, Ethics. Ithaca: Cornell Univerity Press
Elective:
Readings:
• Hayden, Robert M. 2002 “Dictatorships of Virtue? States, NGOs, and the Imposition of
Democratic Virtues.” Harvard International Review 24(2):57-61.
• Hemment, Julie. 2004 “The Riddle of the Third Sector: Civil Society, International Aid, and
NGOs in Russia.” Anthropological Quarterly 77(2):215-241.
• Keck, Margaret E. and Kathryn Sikkink. 1998. Activists Beyond Borders: Advocacy Networks in
International Politics. Ithaca: Cornell University Press.
Elective:
• Fisher, William F. 1997. “Doing Good? The Politics and Antipolitics of NGO Practices.” Annual
Review of Anthropology. (26): 439-464.
• Ferguson, James. 1991. The Anti-Politics Machine: “Development,” Depoliticization, and
Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Elective: