Empire of Humanity: A History of Humanitarianism
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Empire of Humanity explores humanitarianism’s remarkable growth from its humble origins in the early nineteenth century to its current prominence in global life. In contrast to most contemporary accounts of humanitarianism that concentrate on the last two decades, Michael Barnett ties the past to the present, connecting the antislavery and missionary movements of the nineteenth century to today’s peacebuilding missions, the Cold War interventions in places like Biafra and Cambodia to post–Cold War humanitarian operations in regions such as the Great Lakes of Africa and the Balkans; and the creation of the International Committee of the Red Cross in 1863 to the emergence of the major international humanitarian organizations of the twentieth century. Based on extensive archival work, close encounters with many of today’s leading international agencies, and interviews with dozens of aid workers in the field and at headquarters, Empire of Humanity provides a history that is both global and intimate.
Avoiding both romanticism and cynicism, Empire of Humanity explores humanitarianism’s enduring themes, trends, and, most strikingly, ethical ambiguities. Humanitarianism hopes to change the world, but the world has left its mark on humanitarianism. Humanitarianism has undergone three distinct global ages—imperial, postcolonial, and liberal—each of which has shaped what humanitarianism can do and what it is. The world has produced not one humanitarianism, but instead varieties of humanitarianism. Furthermore, Barnett observes that the world of humanitarianism is divided between an emergency camp that wants to save lives and nothing else and an alchemist camp that wants to remove the causes of suffering. These camps offer different visions of what are the purpose and principles of humanitarianism, and, accordingly respond differently to the same global challenges and humanitarianism emergencies. Humanitarianism has developed a metropolis of global institutions of care, amounting to a global governance of humanity. This humanitarian governance, Barnett observes, is an empire of humanity: it exercises power over the very individuals it hopes to emancipate.
Although many use humanitarianism as a symbol of moral progress, Barnett provocatively argues that humanitarianism has undergone its most impressive gains after moments of radical inhumanity, when the "international community" believes that it must atone for its sins and reduce the breach between what we do and who we think we are. Humanitarianism is not only about the needs of its beneficiaries; it also is about the needs of the compassionate.
Michael Barnett
I now make my home in Plano, Texas. My birth in southern California in 1958, was followed over the next five years by my three brothers. During that time, the country was undergoing a significant change from post war innocence into the turbulent late 60's. My incredible wife, Michelle, married me 31 years ago and still tolerates me. We have a single daughter living away from home, and my mom now lives with us since the death of my father two years ago. I have always loved reading, and have read across all genres, and will give up on a book after the first five or ten pages if it isn’t compelling enough. In high school, and college, my English and writing teachers prodded me to be a writer, but I would just laugh at how entertaining the idea was of spending all of that time doing anything. After all, I was cranking through most books in one week, and couldn’t even fathom the idea of spending a year or more on writing a book. Oh, sure, I would often fantasize about writing. With my writing abilities, imagination and expansive memory of things long past, it would be a breeze, right? Wrong. Like a high diver, I was standing on the edge and looking down at the water far below, but I couldn’t (or wouldn’t) take the leap. I had a comfortable life, and, it was remarkably easy to tell myself, “I don’t have the time”. Unfortunately, the older I got, the easier it was to convince myself that I didn’t have the time. Now fast forward to April of 1998. It is Good Friday, and my Dad has just passed away after a long illness. The next few weeks were a blur as my Dad's remains flew to Indiana, and we drove up for the funeral. At the viewing, we were tremendously pleased to see family we haven’t seen in 10, 20, and 30 years. Before long, my three brothers and I started to identify a common theme to all the conversations with us; how “we boys” were little monsters, and how all of our close calls with death—and that we survived, were miraculous. Later that day, my next-to-me-in-age brother, Gerald, told me that based on all of the enthusiasm and interest in our family at the viewing about our younger-selves stories, I should write a book about our family. I laughed it off. We drove back to Texas, and I forgot about my brother’s request. Over the next few months, Gerald would call me and say I should write the book. In the first week of August, Gerald called me, and his cheerful mood was missing. In its place was a truly serious mood. He was not going to let me get out of it any longer. He was making some compelling arguments about wanting (needing) to tell our story, so that others could believe that even when people despair, they always have hope; that even when life seems hopeless and depressing, the grace of God can change it around, where redemption can occur. I started on the outline of the book that night, and within a week had started interviewing my Mom and brothers to start building the stories. My only regret is that my Dad wasn’t around to contribute to the book, and see the result.
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