Beyond Humanitarianism’s Universal Norms: Rethinking White Supremacy in Developmental Work and Humanitarian Aid

Humanitarianism appears to be covertly perpetuating White supremacy in modern developmental work and Humanitarian aid programs. Meaningful transformation in decolonizing the development sector is missing. Racial injustice is reinforced by the proclamation that humanitarian work is based on principles of benevolence, nondiscrimination, and equality. In this manner, humanitarianism performs a modern role in the reconfiguration and maintenance of White supremacy by enveloping racial hierarchies in universalist principles of human understanding, meaning humanitarianism permits White supremacy not only to survive but also to flourish in other parts of the world. Humanitarianism does not question Whiteness, but rather secures it through caring reasoning and logic, facilitating White hegemony over Indigenous and black communities in the development sector and in all institutions of power. Decolonization narratives served as a cover for the establishment of new structures designed to sustain White supremacy. The world of today has White men with financial resources in the form of aid and humanitarian assistance rather than White men with guns as in the middle of the nineteenth century’s imperialism. There is an urgent need to recognize that the universalist approach to humanitarianism supports White dominance by justifying the racial basis of such suffering through purportedly universal norms of caring. As a result, going beyond this narrative requires a radical rethinking of the western idea of humanitarianism to amplify the perspectives of those who have historically been sidelined from determining the borders of humanity. The purpose of this chapter is to advance the dialogue about White supremacy and humanitarianism, not to blame or denigrate the image of those who identify as White because doing so is utterly pointless and meaningless. Therefore, this chapter aims to contribute to the decoloniality debate by highlighting how humanitarianism is used as a modern tool to sustain White supremacy, based on a review of the literature and a reflection on personal experiences in community work and humanitarian aid in the developed and developing worlds.