[Updated 7-6-18] The humanitarian imperative As part of my spring semester course on the humanitarian aid and development sector I have asked my students to do no less than arrive at an understanding of what the ‘humanitarian imperative’ is, based on our many readings, class discussions, and their own research. Here’s their current assignment: Warning:  Difficulty level  = high For this post I ask you to define, discuss, and critique the ‘humanitarian imperative’, making a special effort to do so through the lens of race, class, gender, and other sources of privilege and marginalization. Some questions to consider might include To what extent is the ‘humanitarian imperative’ solely a Western concept? How is our natural human empathy-and the impulse to act on same- expressed in various contexts and cultures? How is our empathy connected with the concept of the humanitarian imperative? Historically, to what degree is the articulation by the … Continue reading What is the ‘humanitarian imperative’?