This seminar featured a guest presentation by Michael Barnett, University Professor of International Affairs and Political Science at the George Washington University, titled ‘A Humanitarian Club: Power in the Humanitarian Architecture.’

Five years on from the first (and only) World Humanitarian Summit and the pledge to ‘localize’ humanitarianism, Barnett discussed how there has been little shift in power from international to local actors and why it has been so hard for a humanitarian governance that pledges solidarity and equality to practice what it preaches.

This seminar also included a panel of presentations from the following researchers.

Sofie Henriksen (Danish Institute for International Studies and Copenhagen Business School) – ‘Hacking the Refugee Crisis: Examining Corporate Tech Narratives in Humanitarianism’.

Emmanuel Viga (Norwegian University of Science and Technology) – ‘Moral and Social Dimensions of Accountability in Civic Humanitarianism: Relational Aid among South Sudanese Refugees in Uganda’.

Hanna Matt (University of Manchester) – ‘The Russian Red Cross during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-1905)’.

Isabelle Schläpfer (University of Bern) – ‘Humanitarian Technologies as Sociotechnical Imaginaries: How Multi-national Companies Impact the Idea of Principled Aid through Technologies’.

More information about this seminar, including the program and presentation abstracts is available here: NCHS-seminar-Tues-8-June-Dimensions-of-power-in-humanitarian-contexts.