• News
    • Latest news
    • News search
    • Health
    • Finance
    • Food
    • Career news
    • Content series
    • Try Devex Pro
  • Jobs
    • Job search
    • Post a job
    • Employer search
    • CV Writing
    • Upcoming career events
    • Try Career Account
  • Funding
    • Funding search
    • Funding news
  • Talent
    • Candidate search
    • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Events
    • Upcoming and past events
    • Partner on an event
  • Post a job
  • About
      • About us
      • Membership
      • Newsletters
      • Advertising partnerships
      • Devex Talent Solutions
      • Contact us
Join DevexSign in
Join DevexSign in

News

  • Latest news
  • News search
  • Health
  • Finance
  • Food
  • Career news
  • Content series
  • Try Devex Pro

Jobs

  • Job search
  • Post a job
  • Employer search
  • CV Writing
  • Upcoming career events
  • Try Career Account

Funding

  • Funding search
  • Funding news

Talent

  • Candidate search
  • Devex Talent Solutions

Events

  • Upcoming and past events
  • Partner on an event
Post a job

About

  • About us
  • Membership
  • Newsletters
  • Advertising partnerships
  • Devex Talent Solutions
  • Contact us
  • My Devex
  • Update my profile % complete
  • Account & privacy settings
  • My saved jobs
  • Manage newsletters
  • Support
  • Sign out
Latest newsNews searchHealthFinanceFoodCareer newsContent seriesTry Devex Pro
    Sponsored Content
    Council on Foreign Relations
    • News

    On Humanitarianism: Is Helping Others Charity or Duty or Both?

    International humanitarianism is both an act of charity and an act of duty, according to Michael Walzer.

    By Devex Editor // 19 August 2011

    EDITOR’S NOTE: One of the first things associated clearly with humanitarian aid is philanthropy  ­— a selfless, voluntary act driven by kindness. But Michael Walzer, professor emeritus of social sciences at the Institute for Advanced Study, believes international humanitarianism is as much a call of duty as it is of charity. A few excerpts:

    Humanitarianism is probably the most important “ism” in the world today, given the collapse of communism, the discrediting of neoliberalism, and the general distrust of large-scale political ideologies. Its activists often claim to escape or transcend partisan politics. We think of humanitarian aid, for example, first of all as a form of philanthropy—a response to an earthquake in Haiti or a tsunami in Asia, which is obviously a good thing, an effort to relieve human suffering and save lives, an act of international benevolence. But there is a puzzle here, for helping people in desperate need is something that we ought to do; it would be wrong not to do it—in which case it is more like justice than benevolence. Words such as “charity” and “philanthropy” describe a voluntary act, a matter of kindness rather than duty. But international humanitarianism seems more like duty than kindness, or maybe it is a combination: two in one, a gift that we have to give.

    Individuals send contributions to charitable organizations when there is a humanitarian crisis, and then these organizations rush trained aid workers into the zone of danger and desperate need. But governments also send help, spending tax money that is coercively collected rather than freely given. Are individual citizens free not to give? Are governments free not to act? Does it matter whether the money is a gift or a tax?

    The dilemma is even clearer in the case of humanitarian intervention. Governments may use force to stop a massacre—as France, the United Kingdom, and the United States are claiming to do in Libya and as someone should have done in Rwanda. We can think of this as a gift to the people being rescued, and what is given is substantial, since it may include the lives of some of the interveners. But is the state that intervenes acting charitably? Isn’t stopping a massacre morally necessary? And think of the diplomatic preparations for the intervention, the strategic arguments about how to do it, the necessary calculations of proportionality, the marshaling of military resources, the actual use of force, the problems of reconstruction afterward—none of that feels like a philanthropic enterprise.This is more like political work, governed by the rules of justice and prudence, not kindness. And yet, we call it “humanitarian” because we want to believe that what underlies and motivates the intervention, at the deepest level, is human sympathy, freely flowing fellow feeling. It is two in one again: a spontaneous act and a necessary one.

    But what if the combination doesn’t work—what if the fellow feeling doesn’t flow freely?

    Republished with permission by the Foreign Affairs magazine. Visit the original article.

    • Humanitarian Aid
    Printing articles to share with others is a breach of our terms and conditions and copyright policy. Please use the sharing options on the left side of the article. Devex Pro members may share up to 10 articles per month using the Pro share tool ( ).

    About the author

    • Devex Editor

      Devex Editor

      Thanks a lot for your interest in Devex News. To share news and views, story ideas and press releases, please email editor@devex.com. We look forward to hearing from you.

    Search for articles

    Related Stories

    Global developmentOpinion: Foreign aid won’t save us. Neither will philanthropy

    Opinion: Foreign aid won’t save us. Neither will philanthropy

    PhilanthropyRisk-averse Gates bets his fortune on the future

    Risk-averse Gates bets his fortune on the future

    PhilanthropyFoundations own huge amounts of stocks. Are they using them for good?

    Foundations own huge amounts of stocks. Are they using them for good?

    Devex NewswireSpecial edition: The other Spring Meeting — where growth met purpose

    Special edition: The other Spring Meeting — where growth met purpose

    Most Read

    • 1
      The power of diagnostics to improve mental health
    • 2
      Lasting nutrition and food security needs new funding — and new systems
    • 3
      Opinion: Urgent action is needed to close the mobile gender gap
    • 4
      Supporting community-driven solutions to address breast cancer
    • 5
      No health reform without better AI governance
    • News
    • Jobs
    • Funding
    • Talent
    • Events

    Devex is the media platform for the global development community.

    A social enterprise, we connect and inform over 1.3 million development, health, humanitarian, and sustainability professionals through news, business intelligence, and funding & career opportunities so you can do more good for more people. We invite you to join us.

    • About us
    • Membership
    • Newsletters
    • Advertising partnerships
    • Devex Talent Solutions
    • Post a job
    • Careers at Devex
    • Contact us
    © Copyright 2000 - 2025 Devex|User Agreement|Privacy Statement