The Banality of Goodness: Humanitarianism Between the Ethics of Showing and the Ethics of Seeing

Contemporary forms of humanitarianism began to emerge in Europe and the Americas in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries, originating from a mixture of religious and Enlightenment ideas. In a context marked by the rapid rise of industrialization, urbanization, and market expansion, and the development of modern nation-states, various intellectuals, politicians, jurists, and members of the clergy adopted the language of humanitarianism to advocate social and political reforms and to push for public intervention to alleviate suffering and restore society’s moral basis. At the time, charity for the poor, regulations regarding child labor, the end of the slave trade, and mass education were the main ideas championed by humanitarian activists. Today, in the twenty-first century, in the words of Michael Barnett and Thomas Weiss, “the terrain on which humanitarians walk is nourished by the forces of destruction, production, and salvation.” What the authors call the “forces of destruction” include the media imagery that has increased public awareness, which, in turn, has created a demand that something be done in the face of suffering that shocks the conscience. In response to them, the last several decades have seen the configuration of the “forces of salvation,” which concern moral discourses, religious beliefs, ethical commitments, and international norms that generate an obligation to help distant strangers. Finally, the “forces of production” include capitalism and the global economy, neoliberal ideology with respect to the state’s role in society, and the funding environment. The link between these modern forces and the emergence of humanitarian consciousness is the focus of the article. Focusing on the communication techniques used to represent distant suffering and especially to generate solidarity between the spectator and the suffering subject—what we may call with Richard Wilson and Richard Brown “the mobilization of empathy”— the essay provides significant advances in our understanding of contemporary humanitarianism.