The Herrenhausen Conference “Governing Humanitarianism” interrogates present issues and future directions for global humanitarian governance in relation to its pasts. Scholars from various disciplines and practitioners in humanitarian sectors are invited to join the event at Herrenhausen Palace, Hanover, on September 13-15, 2020.

Humanitarian organisations across the globe face growing challenges in delivering aid, securing funds and maintaining public confidence. Trade-offs between sovereignty, democracy, security, development, identity and human rights have become highly complex. Self-appointed guardians of the public conscience are now also major sub-contractors of governments, sometimes critics of the very institutions they rely on for funds. The Herrenhausen Conference “Governing Humanitarianism” interrogates present issues and future directions for global humanitarian governance in relation to its pasts, highlighting lessons to be learned from historical events and practices. It asks if humanitarian expansion has come at the expense of core values and effective intervention, and how the pursuit of global equity and social justice can, and has been pursued through shifting global and local power structures. How can we rethink the future direction of humanitarian governance in the world? How can shifting power relations be reconciled with the pursuit of global equity and social justice? What would a different way of working, more attuned to the realities now faced by leaders of big global organisations, actually look like? What will be the characteristics of successful humanitarian international NGOs in ten years’ time? The Herrenhausen Conference seeks to bridge the various gaps between disciplines, scholarship and practice as well as the national, international and global spheres of analysis. It actively involves early career scholars and established academics with leading members from the field of international action in the debate on the past, present, and future of global humanitarian governance.

Organizers: University of Oxford, University of Exeter, University of Cologne, Leibniz-Institute of European History Mainz, Volkswagen Foundation

Herrenhausen Conference
“Governing Humanitarianism – Past, Present and Future”
September 13-15, 2020
Herrenhausen Palace, Hanover, Germany

 

For further information regarding the program, registration, and travel grants, please visit the VolkswagenStiftung website.