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oapen-20.500.12657-511142021-10-20T08:26:49Z Humanitarianism and the Quantification of Human Needs Glasman, Joël basic needs, evidence-based humanitarianism, humanitarian agencies, humanitarian assistance, minimal humanity bic Book Industry Communication::G Reference, information & interdisciplinary subjects::GT Interdisciplinary studies::GTF Development studies bic Book Industry Communication::J Society & social sciences::JF Society & culture: general::JFF Social issues & processes::JFFC Social impact of disasters bic Book Industry Communication::R Earth sciences, geography, environment, planning::RG Geography::RGC Human geography This book provides a historical inquiry into the quantification of needs in humanitarian assistance. Needs are increasingly seen as the lowest common denominator of humanity. Standard definitions of basic needs, however, set a minimalist version of humanity – both in the sense that they are narrow in what they compare, and that they set a low bar for satisfaction. The book argues that we cannot understand humanitarian governance if we do not understand how humanitarian agencies made human suffering commensurable across borders in the first place. The book identifies four basic elements of needs: As a concept, as a system of classification and triage, as a material apparatus, and as a set of standards. Drawing on a range of archival sources, including the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), and the Sphere Project, the book traces the concept of needs from its emergence in the 1960s right through to the present day, and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s call for “evidence-based humanitarianism.” Finally, the book assesses how the international governmentality of needs has played out in a recent humanitarian crisis, drawing on field research on Central African refugees in the Cameroonian borderland in 2014–2016. This important historical inquiry into the universal nature of human suffering will be an important read for humanitarian researchers and practitioners, as well as readers with an interest in international history and development. 2021-10-20T07:48:55Z 2021-10-20T07:48:55Z 2019 book 9780367222154 9780367464165 9781003006954 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/51114 eng Taylor & Francis Routledge 7b3c7b10-5b1e-40b3-860e-c6dd5197f0bb b650ac42-a736-4e14-b26d-aafa27159caa 9c36f6e7-aff7-4fdb-81d1-de7430124fd0 bade3e67-09c9-44c2-ac92-1885f7258d15 e4eb3bf3-9c5d-447b-8979-31e32a808b3f 9b3767e9-6bbf-44b4-ab27-98c8a026d69d c8b88378-cda7-480e-9c9a-48a2bf0e7587 9780367222154 9780367464165 9781003006954 Routledge open access
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This book provides a historical inquiry into the quantification of needs in humanitarian assistance. Needs are increasingly seen as the lowest common denominator of humanity. Standard definitions of basic needs, however, set a minimalist version of humanity – both in the sense that they are narrow in what they compare, and that they set a low bar for satisfaction. The book argues that we cannot understand humanitarian governance if we do not understand how humanitarian agencies made human suffering commensurable across borders in the first place. The book identifies four basic elements of needs: As a concept, as a system of classification and triage, as a material apparatus, and as a set of standards. Drawing on a range of archival sources, including the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), and the Sphere Project, the book traces the concept of needs from its emergence in the 1960s right through to the present day, and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s call for “evidence-based humanitarianism.” Finally, the book assesses how the international governmentality of needs has played out in a recent humanitarian crisis, drawing on field research on Central African refugees in the Cameroonian borderland in 2014–2016. This important historical inquiry into the universal nature of human suffering will be an important read for humanitarian researchers and practitioners, as well as readers with an interest in international history and development.
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