DHIS 27A24 - From Missionaries to NGOs: Tracing the emergence of humanitarian organizations

‘Civil society' and ‘humanitarian aid' are concepts we tend to use excessively without taking the time to locate their historical origins. This course will explore the emergence of non-state actors dedicated to relief between 1835 and 1945 in Europe, America and the Middle East in order to better understand the current stakes of humanitarian action. Along with traumatic conflicts, epidemics and human displacement, the 19th century saw the creation of organizations specialized in dealing with such crises. These collective and transnational institutions emerge however from a long-term culture of religious charity and civil philanthropy that started in Europe and America and was propagated to the world. As professionalized institutions, humanitarian organizations, missionary congregations, private endowments and mutual aid associations slowly became essential actors of international politics. This course aims to trace the emergence of these non-state organizations, their ideological inspirations, the moments of crisis they dealt with and how they exported their model beyond Europe and America. It will thus also help to explore a concept constantly used in contemporary politics but very rarely historically located: civil society. The course will provide primary sources on charitable, philanthropic and humanitarian organizations in action (mostly in Europe and the Middle East) as well as theoretical and empirical readings drawn from all social sciences. Each session will deal with a specific theme, use examples from the period between 1835-1945 and find parallels and continuities with our contemporary world.

Gabriel DOYLE

Séminaire

English

Spring 2022-2023

Grading: Final exam: 40%, research paper 40 %, Participation 20 %.