Chapter

Questioning the civilizing mission : humanitarianism and the Arab world in the 20th century

Esther Moeller

Civilizing missions in the twentieth century

Leiden ; Boston : Brill, 2020

p. 124-141

English

Bibliographie : p. 138-141

When going through the official publications of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) from the 1950s and 1960s, one is struck by the sudden appearance of articles related to Islam and to the Arab world. How is this to be explained: as the result of a surge in interest in the Orient, or of external pressure, and if so, of what kind? This chapter argues that several issues contributed to triggering a 'prise de conscience' of the humanitarian organization about their Eurocentric civilizing mission and the need to decentralize, or in modern terms, 'provicialize' this mission. Among the factors contributing to this shift were the process of decolonization and, linked to this, the multiplication of contacts by the ICRC with the Arab world due to the conflicts emerging there, and finally, the claim by Arab states to be part of the new international order created after 1945. The interplay of these developments with the Arab world, both in Red Cross/Red Crescent terms and concerning the international political and social spheres on this question, in theory and in practice are thus the main concerns of this study.

• Civilizing missions in the twentieth century / ed. by Boris Barth and Rolf Hobson