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Abstract
This article focuses on over 70 years of demotic humanitarianism from a grassroots perspective. Using the archives of Hudfam and Elizabeth Wilson as well as more recent oral history of local nongovernmental organisations in the West Yorkshire region of the United Kingdom, this paper seeks to cast a new light on the complex network of humanitarianism enabled by local groups. The concept of demotic humanitarians will be used here to denote the modest scale of this work, but also the humanitarians’ self-perception as local agents of internationalism acting within localised networks. From the creation of Hudfam in 1942 (before Oxfam but in Huddersfield) to the birth of the Christian African Relief Trust or local partnerships with Ghana, this article shows how entangled in other social and political initiatives demotic humanitarians were.
Acknowledgements
I am grateful to my colleagues who commented on earlier versions of this paper, and the editors of this special issue, Eleanor Davey, Peter Gatrell and Marie-Luce Desgrandchamps. I am especially grateful to Peter Wilson who has shared private archives with me, as well as the staff of CART and GO for their willingness to share so much with me. I am also grateful for the readers’ extremely useful and detailed comments which showed their intimate knowledge of issues, debates and localities.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.
Notes
1 Sandri, “Volunteer Humanitarianism,” 65–80.
2 Walker and Purdin, “Birthing Sphere,”100–11; and Walker, “What Does It Mean.”
3 Taithe, “Cradle of the New Humanitarian System,” 335–58.
4 Fowler, “NGDOs as a Moment in History,” 637–54.
5 Wright, “Generosity vs. Altruism,” 399–416.
6 Taithe, “Humanitarian History?,” 90–101.
7 Davey, Borton, and Foley, History of the Humanitarian System.
8 See Macrae, et al., Uncertain Power.
9 For a broader discussion of charity boundaries see Roddy, Strange, and Taithe, “Charity-Mongers of Modern Babylon,” 118–37. Also see Fiori et al., Echo Chamber, for a critique from within of the humanitarian system and of its management language.
10 Haigh, Huddersfield, a Most Handsome Town; and Scott, “West Pakistanis in Huddersfield,” 38–43.
11 Malkki, Need to Help.
12 Jung, Harrow, and Phillips, “Developing a Better Understanding,” 409–27.
13 Wilson Archive, Blue folder, in particular the work of John Wilson, “Towards Self-Sufficiency: New Project with Indian Aboriginal Tribes” (Oxfam publication, no date).
14 Charity Commission, Annual Report and Accounts, 4.
15 Taylor et al., State of the Humanitarian System.
16 Reinisch, “Internationalism in Relief,” 258–89; Salvatici, “Help the People to Help Themselves,” 428–51; and Rosenfeld, “From Emergency Relief Assistance to Human Development,” 286–317.
17 Foley and Edwards, “Paradox of Civil Society,” 38–52; and Putnam, Bowling Alone.
18 The main critique of this approach to NGOs has been its normative quality focusing on how NGOs ought to be a guarantor of democratic development. See Mercer, “NGOs, Civil Society and Democratization,” 5–22.
19 Ekiert, and Kubik, Rebellious Civil Society.
20 Atlani-Duault, Au Bonheur des Autres.
21 Edwards and Foley, “Civil Society and Social Capital,” 124–39.
22 Fukuyama, “Social Capital, Civil Society and Development,” 7–20; and McLaverty, “Civil Society and Democracy,” 303–18.
23 Hilton, “Politics Is Ordinary,” 230–68.
24 Weinbren, “Supporting Self-Help,” 75–96; and Hall, “Social Capital in Britain,” 421–2.
25 E. Wilson, Encounters on the Way.
26 Baughan, “Every Citizen of Empire Implored,” 116–37.
27 Interview with Peter Wilson, November 16, 2018.
28 Wilson Archives, Blue folder, correspondence with Barry Sheerman, August 23, 1999; May 12, 1998.
29 Brennan, “Government Famine Relief in Bengal, 1943,” 541–66.
30 Gill, “Now I Have Seen Evil,” 172–200; Black, A Cause for Our Times; and Ermisch, Children, Youth and Humanitarian Assistance.
31 Norris, “Trade and Transformations,” 128–43.
32 Interview with Peter Wilson, November 16, 2018.
33 Kirklees Archives (KA), Hudfam papers, KC1030/1/5 1973-1990 Flag Day accounts.
34 Hudfam thus organised the annual Oxfam conference in March 1964; and Wilson Archives, Blue Folder.
35 KA, Hudfam papers, KC1030/1/1 Huddersfield Refugee week 1957; famine relief committee annual reports for 1945–1990.
36 Gatrell, Free World, 141–56.
37 Anderson, The History of Fair Trade, 25.
38 Bocking-Welch, “Imperial Legacies and Internationalist Discourses,” 879–96.
39 6 Queen Street (until 1991).
40 She took a lesser role in Hudfam from 1966 onwards but remained active in Oxfam’s council of management and on the Asia grant committee of the executive committee. Bodleian Library, Oxfam PRG/1/2/1.
41 Field, “Consumption in Lieu of Membership,” 979–97.
42 Hilton, “Ken Loach and the Save the Children Film,” 357–94; and Jones, “British Humanitarian NGOs.”
43 There was some reporting that she had been expected to be named a Judge of the Peace. See Blue folder private archives, letter from the Sheriff court in Argyll, August 18, 1962; Huddersfield Daily Examiner, August 29, 1962, ‘Mrs Wilson was named for Bench.’
44 Hopgood, “‘Saying No’ to Wal-Mart?,” 98–123.
45 “Fartown Mother Goes to Gaol,” Huddersfield Daily Examiner clipping, Wilson Archives, blue folder, August 16, 1962.
46 Wilson Archives, India and Assam 1966 black notebook; India 1971 red notebook; and Red Notebook, Lebanon 1975.
47 Wilson Archives, visual material, slides, Morocco 1958.
48 Gatrell, Free World, 56–9; Oneydum, “Humanize the Conflict,” 713–31; Connelly, A Diplomatic Revolution.
49 Wilson Archives, Blue folder, “Aftermath in Agadir,” Huddersfield Daily Examiner, December 14, 1961; “Scene that Catches at Heart and Leads to World beyond,” The Huddersfield Daily Examiner, February 15, 1965; “I Have Known Poorer People in Huddersfield,” The Huddersfield Daily Examiner, February 26, 1965; “A Leper Colony Run by a Hard Working Idealist,” The Huddersfield Daily Examiner, March 5, 1965; “Suddenly the Sun Caught the Peaks of Kanchenjunga,” The Huddersfield Daily Examiner, April 8, 1965; “Lepers Afraid to Enter Hospital If They Get There,” The Huddersfield Daily Examiner, March 26, 1965; and “Vietnam Self-Help and Rehabilitation,” The Huddersfield Daily Examiner, 16 October 1973.
50 Wilson Archives, Blue folder, 4 Certificates in Ikebana, Sogetsu School, 1974 (February 1974; February 1974; August 1974; October 1974); Diary visit to Japan 1974; Red book, 9.5–16 cm. Women mystics. No date.
51 The work of Duncan Scott (cited above) is here essential reading to understand the make-up of this town in transition. Hopkinson, “A Sociological Tableau of Inter-Ethnic Relations in Huddersfield,” 25–36.
52 KA, Hudfam papers, Elizabeth Wilson, KC1030/2/1 1960s–70s Education Including Religious Education.
53 Wilson Archives, Bordeaux notebook, 9.5–15.5, India, Bangladesh, 1971/72 Amritsar. Fully annotated; Red notebook, 9.5–16 cm, loose cover, India 1971/72, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Jellunda, Amritsa, Bangalore, Madras.
54 E. Wilson, Encounters on the Way, 25–40.
55 Wilson Archives, red notebook, 10–16 cm, visit to India and her son John, January 1978.
56 E. Wilson, Encounters on the Way, 39–42.
57 Ibid., 37.
58 Her theological readings were considerable and showed a strong interest in contemporary theologians as well as the lives of seventeenth-century divines. Red book, 9.5–16 cm. Women mystics. No date, 1960s?
59 Siméant, ‘Entrer, Rester en Humanitaire,” 47–72.
60 Malkki, Need to Help, 138–43.
61 E. Wilson, Encounters on the Way, 9–10.
62 Casement, “A Brief History of Jungian Splits,” 327–9.
63 KA, KC1030/3/2 further encounters 1999, unpublished manuscript.
64 Much 1980s activism took a more openly political form, as shown in Payling, “Socialist Republic of South Yorkshire,” 602–27.
65 Crowson, “Introduction: The Voluntary Sector in 1980s Britain,” 491–8.
66 Interview with Vanessa, June 19, 2017.
67 All informants of this study will be referred to by the first name only or by a pseudonym depending on our agreement at the time of interview.
68 R. A. Wilson and Brown, Humanitarianism and Suffering; and Ambroise-Rendu and Delporte, L’Indignation: Histoire d’une Émotion.
69 “Good News from CART,” 3.
70 Interview with Richard, July 5, 2017. The British fire service sent five engines and equipment for rescue work.
71 Ibid.
72 Farré, Colis de Guerre; and Wieters, NGO Care and Food Aid.
73 Interview with Liz, July 1, 2017.
74 Hill, “New Labour’s Education Policy,” 73–86.
75 For some the travelling to Africa predated and qualified volunteers for management roles in CART. Interview with Brigitte, June 26, 2017.
76 Father Heston and his wife Joyce thus spent two weeks visiting West Yorkshire and local schools.
77 Retzl, “Audits and Accountability,” 39–48.
78 On this see: Hilhorst, “Being Good at Doing Good?,” 193–212.
79 In this respect they reflected the depoliticisation that has been noted in relation to humanitarian logistics more broadly: Tomasini and Van Wassenhove, ‘Pan-American Health Organization’s,” 437–49.
80 Charity commission Return; Founding groups list provided by CART, June 2017.
81 Interview with Brigitte, July 1, 2017.
82 Interview with Liz, July 1, 2017.
83 Charity Commission. GO has four trustees and no declared volunteers.
84 Interview with Richard.
85 Krause, The Good Project, 49–53.
86 Kristiansen, “Social Networks and Business Success,” 1149–71.
87 http://globemed.org/2012/07/25/remembering-joseph-achana/, accessed November 24, 2017.
88 Abu Sa’da, In the Eyes of Others.
89 Interview with Brigitte, June 23, 2017. The breakdown applied to a consignee in Liberia.
90 Interview with Liz, July 1, 2017.
91 Interview with Brigitte; interview with Liz, July 1, 2017.
92 Liz, for instance, went to Malawi after her daughter; interview with Liz, July 1, 2017.
93 Interview with Brigitte, June 23, 2017.
94 Collovald, L’humanitaire ou le Management des Dévouements.
95 See for instance the Winter 2013 CART Newsletter.
96 Arrowsmith, To Asia in Peace.
97 Borton, “The Humanitarian Impulse.”
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Bertrand Taithe
Bertrand Taithe directs the Humanitarian and Conflict Response Institute. He is working on the history of humanitarian aid and has written extensively on humanitarianism and war. His most recent book is The Charity Market and Humanitarianism in Britain, 1870–1912 with Julie-Marie Strange and Sarah Roddy (Bloomsbury, 2018); recent articles include: ‘The Cradle of the New Humanitarian System? International Work and European Volunteers at the Cambodian Border Camps, 1979–1993’ (Contemporary European History, vol. 25, special issue no. 2, 2016, pp. 335–358, doi: 10.1017/S0960777316000102); ‘History, Memory and “Lessons Learnt” for Humanitarian Practitioners’ (with John Borton; European Review of History: Revue européenne d’histoire, 2016, doi: 10.1080/13507486.2015.1117426); and ‘Data Hubris? Humanitarian Information Systems and the Mirage of Technology’ (with Róisín Read and Roger Mac Ginty; Third World Quarterly, 2016, pp. 1314–31, doi: 10.1080/01436597.2015.1136208).