The history of global humanitarianism is currently a vibrant field of academic research worldwide. There are also moves to promote the use of history in the practice and policy-making of humanitarian action. In this public roundtable we bring together key scholars from a variety of international settings, inviting them to comment on the successes and challenges of writing such histories, and to examine the ways in which academic work can engage with practitioners and policy makers.

This event is open to all and forms part of the end-of-project workshop organised by the ‘Moral Economy of Global Civil Society: A History of Voluntary Food Aid’ project, which has been funded by the Swedish Research Council 2013-2017, and is a partnership between Södertörn University, Sweden and University College London.

We expect a lively debate with plenty of time for questions, answers and discussion. Whether you are a student, academic, interested member of the public or work/volunteer for an humanitarian organisation we welcome your attendance at and contribution to the event.

Speakers: Professor Norbert Götz (Södertörn University, Sweden), Professor Dominque Marshall (Carleton University, Canada), Professor Bertrand Taithe (University of Manchester, UK) and Dr Pamala Wiepking (Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University, The Netherlands).

Chair: Dr Georgina Brewis, UCL Institute of Education, University College London, UK.

Programme

16.00-18.00 Roundtable held in the Chadwick Lecture Theatre (B05 LT), Chadwick Building, UCL.

The building is on your immediate right as you enter the main UCL gates on Gower Street. Enter and take the stairs or lift to the basement.

18.00-19.00 Drinks Reception held in the Wilkins Building (Main Building) North Cloisters, UCL.

About the speakers

Professor Norbert Götz is based at the Institute of Contemporary History at Södertörn University, Stockholm. He has a wide range of interests including political culture, international relations, and conceptual history. The current focus of his work is on humanitarianism, transnationalism, and civil society–state relations. As Principal Investigator of the project "The Moral Economy of Global Civil Society: A History of Voluntary Food Aid" he works broadly on improving the understanding of the evolution of transnational humanitarianism, in addition to in depth studies of relief during the Great Irish Famine. His publications include the book Deliberative Diplomacy: The Nordic Approach to Global Governance and Societal Representation at the United Nations (Republic of Letters, 2011), the special issue “Moral Economy: New Perspectives” (Journal of Global Ethics, 2015) as well as articles on Swedish development aid (in the anthology Saints and Sinners, 2013) and on British humanitarian assistance for Germany and Sweden during the Napoleonic wars (Journal of Modern European History, International History Review, and Historische Zeitschrift).

Professor Dominique Marshall is Chair of the Department of History at Carleton University. She teaches Canadian and Quebec history of poverty and welfare, families and childhood, state formation, as well as the transnational history of humanitarian aid, and Political Economy. She has written about the history of the Canadian welfare state, the history of children’s rights, and the Child Welfare Committee of the League of Nations. Her current research is about the Conference on the African Child of 1931, and the history of OXFAM in Canada. She was the president of the Canadian Historical Association from 2013 to 2015, and  the French Editor of the Journal of the Canadian Historical Association for 20 years. Her last two publications are: “Usages de la notion de « droits des enfants » par les populations coloniales : la Conférence de l’enfance africaine de 1931“, Relations internationales, no. 161, printemps 2015, p. 43-64; and “Discours présidentiel: Dessins d’enfants et aide humanitaire: expressions et expositions transnationales/ Presidential Address: Children’s Drawings and Humanitarian Aid: Transnational Expressions and Exhibits”, Revue de la Société historique du Canada/Journal of the Canadian Historical Association, 26, 1 (2015), p. 1-65.

Professor Bertrand Taithe is based at the University of Manchester where he teaches the history of humanitarianism and researches humanitarian aid practices. He is a founding member and executive director of the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute (www.hcri.ac.uk) which combines the research interests of colleagues in the humanities and opens a dialogue with humanitarian workers and medical practitioners. He is editor of the European Review of History - revue europeenne d'histoire. He is currently working on several projects: an ESRC funded research project on charity in Victorian Britain with Dr Julie-Marie Strange and Dr Sarah Roddy; a research project on UN security data with Professor Roger MacGinty (HCRI), and a history of humanitarian technologies which links to the ongoing research project led by ODI in London. 

Dr Pamala Wiepking is an assistant Professor at the Department of Business-Society Management at the Rotterdam School of Management, Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her research focuses on cross-national and interdisciplinary explanations of philanthropy. She aims to make philanthropy more meaningful for all actors involved and she is the 2016 AFP Emerging Scholar Award recipient for her contribution to philanthropy and fundraising research. Together with other researchers she has published on philanthropic behavior in –among others– Social Forces, European Sociological Review, Social Science Research, Voluntas and the Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. She is co-editor (with Femida Handy) of the Palgrave Handbook of Global Philanthropy. She is a member of the editorial board for the Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly and the International Journal of Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Marketing. Pamala is one of the founding members of the European Research Network on Philanthropy and the Center for Global Generosity. She lectures at the Erasmus University on the topic of methodology of research and philanthropy. She is also board member of the Dutch Fundraising Institute (IF).