The far side: the meta functions of humanitarianism in a globalised world

This paper explores the meta functions of humanitarianism—that is, the functions that, as an ideology, a movement and a profession, it performs, wittingly or unwittingly, in the early twenty‐first century. 1 The term humanitarianism is used as shorthand to encompass a complex set of currents of thought, actions and institutions of which the boundaries are unclear. The focus is on mainstream humanitarianism, the dominant Northern/Western...