Tag: Human Rights (Page 1 of 2)

Digital Pre-Panel I “Governing Humanitarianism – Past, Present and Future”

September 3, 2021 / Sean Eedy

In preparation for the Herrenhausen Conference “Governing Humanitarianism” in 2022, two online pre-panels will take place on September 27 and 28. Scholars from various disciplines and practitioners in humanitarian sectors are invited to join this years’ online event.

In the last two decades, humanitarianism and human rights have crystallized as two flourishing fields of research within various disciplines. Both concepts have been the subject of a lively international debate among political scientists, legal scholars, and historians, concerning their respective histories, nature, and impacts. Humanitarianism and human rights are often presented as opposing terms, and sometimes even as rival concepts, by scholars advocates on both sides. Such definitions typically present humanitarianism as resting upon a discourse of charity and suffering, while human rights are based on a discourse of solidarity and justice. Yet despite their differences, both concepts also share some similar historical origins and developments. Perhaps most importantly, both embody entangled notions of humanity. Despite the academic efforts to draw clear line between them, the boundaries between aid, relief, and rights remain both blurred and complicated.

The main goal of this digital panel is to discuss this complex relationship from various disciplinary perspectives. Rather than highlighting the differences between humanitarianism and human rights, leading experts from political science, international law, and international history will focus on the manifold overlaps and links between the two fields. When and how did these concepts compete and reinforce each other? In what ways did the emergence of humanitarian norms influence and contribute to the global emergence of international human rights law? What entanglements, dilemmas, and tensions emerge out of various competing concepts of humanitarianism and global human rights? And finally, how does this entwined history influence our landscape of international politics and crisis management today?

The digital panel “Human Rights and Humanitarianism – a Complicated Relationship?” is part of the Herrenhausen Conference “Governing Humanitarianism – Past, Present and Future,” funded by the Volkswagen Foundation.

A link to join the discussions will be published on the Volkswagen Foundation website at the beginning of September 2021. This digital pre-panel as part of the upcoming 2022 Herrenhausen Conference on “Human Rights and Humanitarianism – a Complicated Relationship?” will be held on 27 September 2021, 3:30-5pm. More information, including panel participants and bios, registration, and conference details can be found on the conference website.

CfP: The Red Cross Movement, Voluntary Organizations, and Reconstruction in Western Europe in the 20th century

July 31, 2019 / Sean Eedy

From H-Human Rights

This one-day symposium will be held at the Centre d’Histoire de Sciences Po (Paris, France) on Friday 12 June 2020

Historical research on voluntary or non-government organizations and their contribution to the reconstruction of states, communities and humanitarian assistance to civilian populations following conflicts, epidemics and disasters through the twentieth century has generally focused on non-Western European countries. The historiography suggests that it is mostly in Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa that natural or man-made disasters have occurred, and that these places have been the focus for humanitarian assistance. The major geographical spheres of interest for Red Cross societies and non-government organizations to provide assistance to populations in times of severe crises do not generally include Western Europe, except for World War II. Rather, the humanitarian enterprise is viewed through the binary of the Global North/Global South, those who save and those who are saved. Continue reading

CfP: The African Commonwealth – Strasbourg 14-15 November 2019 (new deadline, 1 July 2019)

April 23, 2019 / Sean Eedy

original post on H-Diplo by Mélanie Torrent

The African Commonwealth : perceptions, realities and limits (new deadline / new dates)

14-15 November 2019
Institute of Political Studies, Strasbourg

The next Commonwealth Summit, due to be held in Kigali in 2020, promises to give Africa new visibility in the politics of the governmental delegations and civil society organisations which will converge in Rwanda. The youngest member of the Commonwealth, having joined in 2009, a joint member of the Francophonie whose secretary general is now former Rwandan Foreign and International Cooperation Secretary Louise Mushikiwabo, and an active player in global, continental and regional dynamics, Rwanda will be an important space for the Commonwealth to show that it is an attractive multilateral organisation for the 21st century – and for observers to assess this critically. On Africa, beside a number of success stories, the ongoing “Anglophone crisis” in Cameroon will raise difficult but urgent questions. More generally, the renegotiation of the Cotonou Agreements and the question of the Economic Partnership Agreements, the redefinition of the UK’s relations with the overall Commonwealth (including in the current uncertain context of Brexit) and the interest shown by African states in either re-entering (Zimbabwe) or joining (Togo) the Commonwealth also makes a re-assessment of the meaning of the Commonwealth in Africa and for Africa an important and timely issue. Continue reading

New Roundtable Publication: “History and Humanitarianism: A Conversation”

September 30, 2018 / Sean Eedy

This past week, the journal Past & Present from Oxford University Press published a roundtable discussion on the relatively recent and rapid rise in the study of humanitarian history. The following reflects the original introduction to the discussion as published in the journal. Links to the complete article are provided below. Continue reading

CfP: Culture and International History VI: Visions of Humanity

May 31, 2018 / Sean Eedy

Call for Papers

Culture & International History VI: Visions of Humanity

6-8 May 2019 in Berlin

John F. Kennedy Institute, Freie Universitaet Berlin

Deadline: July 8, 2018

The conference Culture and International History VI will take place from 6 – 8 May 2019 in Berlin. The conference marks the 20th anniversary of the symposium cycle that began in 1999 and has since taken place in Wittenberg, Frankfurt, Cologne, and Berlin; key themes and contributions have been published in Berghahn Books’ series Explorations in Culture and International History (Oxford, New York, since 2003). Continue reading

Refugees, Disability, and Technology in Transnational Postwar Canada

May 18, 2018 / Sean Eedy

White cane in hand, Karol Gamrot arrived with his family and guide dog Utta at
the Montreal Airport on January 18, 1951. He was one of eight blind refugees and
their families sponsored to come to Canada from camps across Europe in the early
1950s. Learn more about Gamrot’s story in an exhibit that explores the historic
challenges of migrants and new Canadians with disabilities, as well as the mixed role
of technology in their lives. Continue reading

CfP: Modern Workship, NACBS Annual Meeting

January 4, 2018 / Sean Eedy

The next meeting of the North American Conference on British Studies will be held in Providence, RI on October 25-28, 2018.

Theme: “Altruism and its Discontents: Human Rights, Humanitarianism, and Development.”

The deadline to apply is February 15, 2018.

From the NACBS description:

This workshop will explore human rights, humanitarianism, and development in the modern period, c. 1800-2000, through the prism of “altruism.” While usually treated separately, each of these areas of endeavor grapples with often competing interests in projects aimed at improving the lives of others, some altruistic, others less so. We seek papers that engage critically in human rights, humanitarianism, or development, with special consideration for those positioned at their intersections. What has been the relationship between humanitarianism and discourses on human rights and how has it changed over time? How do we explain the dynamics of imperialism, internationalism, and foreign intervention? Humanitarian intervention and development? Or, empire, decolonization, and “development” projects? Where were projects made and unmade and how? What were their costs and who bore them? Where did these discourses or projects fit within anti-colonial resistance or in the civic life of post-colonial societies? While our emphasis is on British engagement in the world, we welcome equally papers that examine the reception of these projects among local populations and/or that put British actors in comparative or international context.

Global Impact Soirée

October 6, 2017 / Sandrine Murray

By Sandrine Murray

On May 9, 2017, CNHH attended Global Impact Soirée, an event highlighting Canadian contributions to international aid.

Tyler Owens and Julia van Drie helped research a film discussing Canada’s history of international aid. It took the work of six CNHH members to identify events, while research assistants Tyler and Julia documented them. The CNHH also helped rejuvenate the slide show of CIDA highlighted at the evening. “25 years of excellence in International Photography,” was brought back online at the CNHH’s request, and is now hosted by the MacOdrum Library at Carleton University.To see the photos, check out the CIDA photo library collection here.

Presentation during the ceremony at the home of the Ambassador of Chile.

Canadian Veteran Humanitarian Honoured by Chilean Embassy of Ottawa

November 15, 2016 / Sean Eedy

Dr. John W. Foster honoured at the home of the Ambassador of Chile.

The Latin American Working Group is working in collabortion with the CNHH in order to collect, organize and publicize its historical activities. Its website, “Si Hay Camino” is already rich in material. Most of its archives are deposited at the Center for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC) of York University, and the collection of books and archives has an online Finding Aid. In parallel, the CNHH is working with Carleton University Archives and Research Collections, to transfer John Foster’s personal papers there, to add to the papers of another veteran director of Oxfam Canada, Meyer Brownstone.

original post on H-Diplo by Mélanie Torrent

The African Commonwealth : perceptions, realities and limits (new deadline / new dates)

by Deniz Yonucu

Human Rights Work and Transnational Legal Activism: Limits and Potential February 8 and 9, 2019