03979namaa2200757uu 4500 oapen51114 oapen 20251217011900.0 a||||fo|||||||||0| cr|mn|---annan 240424s2019a||||fo|||||||||0|eng d 1119059416 OCoLC 9780367222154 9780367464165 9781003006954 (OCoLC)1119059416 oapen oapen eng dc G thema GT thema GTP thema J thema JB thema JBF thema JBFF thema R thema RG thema RGC thema Glasman, Joël edt Humanitarianism and the Quantification of Human Needs Minimal Humanity Taylor & Francis Routledge [Imprint] 2019 1 online resource text txt rdacontent computer c rdamedia online resource cr rdacarrier Free-to-read Unrestricted online access star This book provides a historical inquiry into the quantification of needs in humanitarian assistance. Needs are increasingly seen as the lowest common denominator of humanity. Standard definitions of basic needs, however, set a minimalist version of humanity - both in the sense that they are narrow in what they compare, and that they set a low bar for satisfaction. The book argues that we cannot understand humanitarian governance if we do not understand how humanitarian agencies made human suffering commensurable across borders in the first place. The book identifies four basic elements of needs: As a concept, as a system of classification and triage, as a material apparatus, and as a set of standards. Drawing on a range of archival sources, including the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), Médecins sans Frontières (MSF), and the Sphere Project, the book traces the concept of needs from its emergence in the 1960s right through to the present day, and United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's call for "evidence-based humanitarianism." Finally, the book assesses how the international governmentality of needs has played out in a recent humanitarian crisis, drawing on field research on Central African refugees in the Cameroonian borderland in 2014-2016. This important historical inquiry into the universal nature of human suffering will be an important read for humanitarian researchers and practitioners, as well as readers with an interest in international history and development. Open licence https://oapen.org/article/rights eng Basic needs. Humanitarianism. Besoins fondamentaux. Basic needs fast Development studies thema Earth Sciences, Geography, Environment, Planning thema Geography thema Human geography thema Humanitarianism fast Interdisciplinary studies thema Reference, Information and Interdisciplinary subjects thema Social and ethical issues thema Social impact of disasters / accidents (natural or man-made) thema SOCIAL SCIENCE / Disasters & Disaster Relief bisacsh SOCIAL SCIENCE / Third World Development bisacsh Society and culture: general thema Society and Social Sciences thema basic needs evidence-based humanitarianism humanitarian agencies humanitarian assistance minimal humanity Glasman, Joël aut OAPEN Library. https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/51114 Free-to-read: OAPEN Library/DOAB: description of the publication 0 37688 37688