Voices of Humanitarianism: British Responses to Refugees from Chile

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Histories of humanitarianism have to date tended to privilege elite perspectives, focusing on political figures, diplomats and negotiators; large international organizations (e.g. UNHCR, ICRC, Save the Children, Oxfam); high-profile moments of crisis (Vietnam, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Kosovo), and international legal structures shaping action and response. Today humanitarianism is often closely associated - even conflated - with the provision of state aid or with human rights work. Nevertheless, conceived as a 'concern for distant others' (Haskell 1985), humanitarianism is much broader in scope than either of these, as it often depends upon large numbers of professional field workers, grassroots actors and community organizations. The experiences, contributions and vision of such actors as well as the perspectives of those they help are lost in high-level studies, limiting our understanding of the nature and impact of humanitarian work on the ground. Lack of attention to the agents and recipients of humanitarian work leads to their silencing, potentially distorting not only our vision of their motivations and experiences, but also our understanding of key events, approaches, and their historical significance. This project will offer a qualitative assessment of humanitarianism, enabling an evaluation of the extent to which the ostensible aims of intervention may relate to, modify, or diverge from, its lived impact on the ground.The research takes the example of UK responses to the plight of Chilean refugees in the wake of the 1973 coup d'état in Chile as a case study which can both illuminate late 20thC British humanitarianism at a pivotal moment towards the end of the Cold War, and offer a rare opportunity to build an internal history of - and thus give voice to - the comprehensive range of actors, agents, and recipients involved in that work. This approach will not only permit an examination of their experiences and actions during a period of intense activism, as well as their relationship to grassroots social movements in the UK and resistance movements in Chile, but will offer insight into the beliefs, ideas and motivations that shaped their work. The project brings together oral history and a concern for the study of the emotions, developing a cultural studies approach to humanitarian history in order to recover the voices of the recipients and agents of humanitarian support and offer a detailed understanding of their historical agency.The research further deepens this cultural perspective through impact and engagement activities which use experimental, physical theatre to explore and convey Chileans' responses to repression and exile, and their strategies for dealing with such scenarios. The physical theatre group, Ephemeral Ensemble, with whom the project team will collaborate to create a performance in the MMDH, Santiago, does not work with scripts. It builds up performances using real-life stories, interviews and documentary materials to create theatrical shows that explore social issues. Its methodology combines the high-skilled physicality of the performers, playful stage craft and original music, to communicate with public audiences in a powerful and thought-provoking way.