Humanitarian reason : a moral history of the present times / Didier Fassin ; translated by Rachel Gomme.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Fassin, Didier.

Standardized Title:

Raison humanitaire. English

Language:

English

French

Subjects (All):

Humanitarian assistance--Moral and ethical aspects.

Humanitarian assistance.

International relief--Moral and ethical aspects.

International relief.

Physical Description:

xvi, 336 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Berkeley : University of California Press, [2012]

Summary:

In the face of the world's disorders, moral concerns have provided a powerful ground for developing international as well as local policies. Didier Fassin draws on case materials from France, South Africa, Venezuela, and Palestine to explore the meaning of humanitarianism in the contexts of immigration and asylum, disease and poverty, disaster and war. He traces and analyzes recent shifts in moral and political discourse and practices -- what he terms "humanitarian reason"-- and shows in vivid examples how humanitarianism is confronted by inequality and violence. Deftly illuminating the tensions and contradictions in humanitarian government, he reveals the ambiguities confronting states and organizations as they struggle to deal with the intolerable. His critique of humanitarian reason, respectful of the participants involved but lucid about the stakes they disregard, offers theoretical and empirical foundations for a political and moral anthropology.

Contents:

Part I Politics

1 Suffering Unveiled Listening to the Excluded and the Marginalized 21

2 Pathetic Choice Exposing the Misery of the Poor 44

3 Compassion Protocol Legalizing Diseased Undocumented Immigrants 83

4 Truth Ordeal Attesting Violence for Asylum Seekers / Limon. Fronters Fronters, Limon. 109

5 Ambivalent Hospitality Governing the Unwanted 133

Part II Worlds

6 Massacre of the Innocents Representing Childhood in the Age of Aids 161

7 Desire for Exception Managing Disaster Victims

8 Subjectivity without Subjects Reinventing the Figure of the Witness

9 Hierarchies of Humanity Intervening in International Conflicts 223.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780520271166

0520271165

9780520271173

0520271173

OCLC:

707842753