Citation

Macrae J. Disasters 1998; 22(4): 309-317.

Affiliation

Overseas Development Institute, London. j.macrae@odi.org.uk

Copyright

(Copyright © 1998, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

9874896

Abstract

Over recent years, the humanitarian community has been under increasing scrutiny and attracted harsh criticism. This mounting critique of humanitarianism has shifted from being concerned primarily with the poor functioning of the humanitarian system to one targeted on basic humanitarian values. This paper is concerned to understand the factors driving the attack on humanitarian values. It identifies four apparently disparate groups who are interested in attacking these values: the anti-imperialists, the realpolitikers, the developmentalists and the neo-peaceniks. It concludes that unless humanitarian actors are aware of these diverse threats to their values and operations, they risk being co-opted or marginalised.

Language: en