For Good and Country: Nationalism and the Diffusion of Humanitarianism in the Late Nineteenth Century

• In Event: 545 - Section on Sociology of Culture Roundtable Session.
  In Refereed Roundtable: Table 08. Culture and Politics

Abstract

Recent scholarship has made considerable efforts to conceptualize the ways transnational advocacy affects national-level structures and policies, but has paid little attention to the ways local culture mediates the process. This article addresses this question by studying the cross-national diffusion of impartial humanitarianism in the late 19th Century through the Red Cross Movement. It draws on archival research in the archives of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and in the Library of Geneva. Using field theory and cultural sociology, the study shows that the early advocates of the movement supported the creation of a local humanitarian field in multiple states, with actors in each field drawing on cultural codes to identify their humanitarian mission with a sense of national moral character and value. At the same time, transnational actors worked to ensure that each field recognize itself as part of a universal project to alleviate suffering. With the institutionalization of this structure, national identity remained a salient element of the work of the Red Cross and associated INGOs. Theoretically, the article highlights the need for field theory to account for domestic culture as a mediator between global influences and local fields.

Author

• Shai M. Dromi, Yale University