Joël Glasman is a historian and professor at the University of Bayreuth. His work focuses on the contemporary state in Africa and the history of humanitarian aid.
Latest work: Petit manuel d'autodéfense à l'usage des volontaires. Les humanités humanitaires, Paris, 2023.
www.joelglasman.com
MSF
Analysis
The Trump administration’s attacks on the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) since 20 January 2025 have revealed the anti-humanitarian ideology of the far right ‒ that is, the view that foreign aid is a betrayal of national interests and values. In this article, Joël Glasman discusses two historical critiques of humanitarianism: the far-right (reactionary) critique, and the progressive critique shared by a number of traditions (Marxist, socialist, feminist, Pan-Africanist, and anti-colonialist). The author stresses the importance of clearly distinguishing between these two types of critique despite the current blurring of the line between politics and the media (welcomed by reactionary critique supporters), and shows that they are polar opposites when it comes to human dignity and the equality it implies.
ICRC/MATTHYS, Olivier/2011/ V-P-PK-E-01284
Analysis
The principle of impartiality, which is often reduced to a principle of mathematical distribution, was originally coined by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), at that time on a quest for legitimacy. However, reducing impartiality to a resource distribution algorithm strengthens the overarching position held by non-territorial organisations. This is the theory put forward by the author in his latest book.
Conference
Combining historical research and ethnographic investigations, the Africanist historian Joël Glasman plunges us into the factory of the homo humanitarianus, the average individual, on the basis of which "needs" and aid projects today are assessed. This conversation took place on December 10th 2020, during a conference-debate at Crash.