As Waldron says, critiquing humanitarianism, and by association those who do humanitarian work, is much like "sending mother's apple pie to the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for chemical analysis or turning the family dog to medical research" (quoted in Harrell-Bond 52). You just don't do things like that.
People are pouring their hearts and energies into humanitarian work and that is why it feels wrong to question it because it is so deeply personal and emotional, and their work comes out of a deep place of human compassion. But we're not here to question the integrity or character of these workers.
There is enough evidence shown by researchers in the various disciplines of international relations, political science, anthropology, etc. that should make us question, Is the humanitarian work we're doing really benefiting the people we're trying to help? Are we actually contributing to the problem instead? With the number of lives at stake, shouldn't we be asking these questions now rather than later?
These authors have asked these hard questions and have provided some answers, but mostly raised more questions. This is the crux of dilemma humanitarians face each day.
Without further ado, here's the list. (We'd like to thank our professor, Dr. Erin Baines, for this bibliography.)
- Baines, Erin and E. Paddon. "This is how we survived: Self-protection of civilians in northern Uganda." Draft.
- Branch, Adam. "The Roots of LRA Violence” in The Lord’s Resistance Army: Myth and Reality by editors, Allen and Koen Vlassenroot.
- Dolan, Chris. Social Torture (especially Chapters 2-5).
- Dolan, Chris. "Collapsing Masculinities and Weak States – A case study of northern Uganda" in Masculinities Matter! Men, Gender and Development.
- Duffield, Mark. Global Governance and the New Wars (especially Chapters 1, 3-4).
- Finnstrom, Sverker. Living with Bad Surroundings: War, History, and Everyday Moments in Northern Uganda (especially Chapters 2-4).
- Harrell-Bond, Barbara. “Can Humanitarian Work with Refugees be Humane?”. Human Rights Quarterly vol. 24, no. 1 (2002): 51-85.
- Razack, Sherene. “Stealing the Pain of Others”. The Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies vol. 29 (2007): 375-394.
- Rosenoff, Lara. "Rational Witness no More: Social Documentary and War in Northern Uganda." International Journal of the Arts in Society vol. 5 no. 1 (2010).
- Utas, Mats. "Victimcy, Girlfriending, Soldiering: Tactic Agency in a Young Woman's Social Navigation of the Liberian War Zone." Anthropological Quarterly vol. 78 no. 2 (2005): 403-430.
