Paper details
| Paper authors | Phoebe Shambaugh |
| In panel on | Who or what constitutes the humanitarian? |
| Paper presenter(s) will be presenting |
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Abstract
Education has only in the last few decades been included in the professional humanitarian sector, under the name of Education in Emergencies (EiE). This is an inclusion which is sometimes contested, and many of those who identify as EiE practitioners (particularly those from the Global North) do so from a moral and personal position which intertwines their professional, personal, and ethical lives intimately – and, I suggest, differently from the moral-ethical standpoint of medical humanitarianism with its emphasis on saving life. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with humanitarian and education practitioners, I seek to respond to Malkki’s (2015) query: who are these people, and why do they believe so strongly in education as a humanitarian act? What does that mean to them? These questions encompass both demographic and experiential axes. The humanitarian sector has diversified and incorporates a larger percentage of local staff and locally recognized humanitarian professionals than in past decades, but often also requires accreditation, education and training provided in affiliation with institutions in the global North. This paper draws on Smirl’s (2015) link between epistemology and humanitarian imaginary in an attempt to situate education in emergencies as both a professional and a moral field within the broader spectrum of humanitarianism.
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