case studies, such as Ireland, Austria and Italy, and an emphasis on narratives of reconstruction, productivity and national identity. 14 The case of Greece and the humanitarian narratives of the MP films at large have been underexplored so far. By concentrating on the MP films about Greece, my aim is to correlate their discourse of reconstruction with the narrative of humanitarianism and to
figure to overcome the politics of borders ( Johnson, 2011 ; Malkki, 1996 ; Rajaram, 2002 ), or the contribution of visual media to ideologies embedded in humanitarian narratives, from the human rights framework to colonialism, nationalism, and imperialism ( Briggs, 2003 ; Dogra, 2012 ; Lydon, 2016 ; Sliwinski, 2011 ). In this special issue, we build on such scholarship by inquiring into the role that specific media such as photography, film, graphic materials, or museums
evolved into important narrative agents of the movement. Taking a particular interest in the entanglements between visual display and narrative, the following sections argue that Red Cross museums have shaped, changed, and formulated their own humanitarian narratives throughout the twentieth century. The first section starts out by first describing the origins of the institution of Red Cross museums, with a particular focus on the museum of the American Red Cross in Washington
An accomplished academic, collector, and long-time Red Cross volunteer, Professor Dr Rainer Schlösser is head of the Red Cross Museum of the Red Cross Chapter Fläming-Spreewald in Luckenwalde. He has directed the museum since 2000. Since 2006, he has also served as official spokesperson of the Association of the Red Cross Museums in Germany, a group connecting thirteen Red Cross museums across Germany. I met Rainer Schlösser in his office at the Red Cross Museum in Luckenwalde. After an extended and insightful tour through the museum we sat down to discuss his ideas and his work at the museum.
being a humanitarian worker has never been so complex and dangerous. Many humanitarian narratives are fuelled by the fears of organisations: they see their working space reduced under the joint pressure of states increasingly asserting their sovereignty and of more frequent security incidents due to direct targeting, all happening in the context of widespread erosion of international norms ( Shaheen, 2016 ; Bouchet-Saulnier and Whittall, 2019 ; UN Security Council
Humanitarian Narrative ’, Humanity: An International Journal of Human Rights, Humanitarianism, and Development , 2 : 2 , 161 – 70 . Medie , P. A. and Kang , A. J. ( 2018 ), ‘ Power, Knowledge and the Politics of Gender in the Global South ’, European Journal of Politics and Gender , 1
a white savior as visual iteration of the familiar humanitarian narrative. There was also a strong gendering to the ARC’s iconography: women – and more specifically nurses – served as allegorical figures that helped to frame the ARC as an agency of caring nurturers, or embodiments of ‘The Greatest Mother in the World’ ( Irwin, 2013 : 86). Among the first pictures the ARC reproduced of Hine’s were those of the American Red Cross Child Welfare Exhibition at St. Etienne, American soldiers resting and recuperating at ARC hospitals, and warehouses professionally
spruced and curated patient testimonies combined with the technical legitimacy offered by medical data are made to fit a de-politicised humanitarian narrative. As such, the irony of steep growth in communications and advocacy positions within MSF overlapping with creeping conservatism in speaking out is not lost. Yet, it spurred the growth of public advocacy in the wider humanitarian sector: from public denunciation to combining emotions (patient testimonies) with evidence
, humanitarian movies advocated with persuasion (why should we help) and mobilization (how to help), but without denouncing the political roots or implications of the crises. However, some were more political or accusatory because of the controversies they raised. Whereas ICRC, Red Cross and Quakers movies used a humanitarian narrative highlighting ameliorative action ( Laqueur, 1989 ), a few particularly focused on abuses or graphic details of the body in pain. NER’s Auction of Souls was the most political, denouncing the Turkish portrayed as the oppressors; many scenes of
” ’, Digital Journalism , 6 : 2 , 137 – 53 . Taylor , J. ( 2000 ), ‘ Problems in Photojournalism: Realism, the Nature of News and the Humanitarian Narrative ’, Journalism Studies , 1 : 1 , 129 – 43 . Tucher , A. ( 1994 ), Froth and Scum: Truth, Beauty, Goodness, and the Ax Murder in America’s First Mass Medium ( Chapel Hill, NC : University of North Carolina Press ). Twomey , C. ( 2015 ), ‘ Framing Atrocity ’, in Fehrenbach , H. and Rodogno