The Politics of Impartial Activism: Humanitarianism and Human Rights

Abstract

Humanitarian and human rights movements have gained influence as impartial ethical responses to injustice and suffering, yet their claims to impartiality are commonly dismissed as misleading, naïve, or counterproductive. To date, little attention has been paid to the very different ways human rights and humanitarian movements have conceptualized impartiality in relation to distinct and conflicting activist goals. The contemporary role of impartial activism can be better understood by examining these historical differences and how they eroded as the two movements encountered and responded to challenging political dilemmas. This has contributed to a common formulation of impartial activism that paradoxically combines the transformative moral judgment associated with human rights and the pragmatic avoidance of judgment associated with humanitarianism. Focusing on advocacy for humanitarian intervention and transitional justice, the paper examines how this amalgam of idealism and pragmatism undermines the critical role and defining aspirations of both movements. It concludes by considering how humanitarian and human rights organizations might provoke and assess political responses to injustice by clarifying the limits of their distinct claims to impartiality.

The transnational movement for Truth, Justice and Reconciliation as an emotional (rule) regime?

“…Simultaneously, after 1996 many concerned TNGOs, such as the International Committee of the Red Cross, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch or Medicins du Monde, and some key politicians, such as, Lloyd Axworthy in Canada, Joshka Fischer in Germany, Robin Cook in the UK, and Kofi Annan at the UN, to name just a few (Leebaw 2007, pp. 228-229, Axworthy 2008, Smith 2010) joined a transnational campaign which became known as the 'War against Impunity'.…”

The futility of rights‐based humanitarian aid to the Occupied Palestinian Territories

“…Furthermore, she argues that the RBA framework may force humanitarian actors to choose between advocacy and access to the field (Benelli, 2013, pp. 11, 14; see also Leebaw, 2007). Both dilemmas are present in the Palestinian context.…”

Die Ambivalenz der Gefühle

“…Its goal is to protect citizens against states-their own or foreign-that negatively affect their well-being (Minow 1998, p. 147;Rotberg and Thompson 2000;Hayner 2010Hayner [2001; Buckley-Zistel and Kater 2011; Axworthy 2008; Boltanski 1999, p. 178-183, 189;Leebaw 2007;Rodrigues 2012). The transnational movement for TJ&R is only about 20-30 years old.…”

“…In the past the Humanitarian Movement, exemplified by the Red Cross, took pride in its neutral stand, and was for immediate, urgent compassion for human suffering (Leebaw 2007;Boltanski 1999, p. 178, 181-188). In the past the Humanitarian Movement, exemplified by the Red Cross, took pride in its neutral stand, and was for immediate, urgent compassion for human suffering (Leebaw 2007;Boltanski 1999, p. 178, 181-188).…”