The Project Methods

Methods

HumanEuroMed mobilises tools drawn from a broad spectrum of fields. These include Colonialism and Decolonisation Studies, the history and theory of International Relations, Welfare History, Gender Studies, Religious Studies, Social and Political History, Cold War Studies and Visual Studies. Interdisciplinarity is thus woven into the very fabric of this research group, which also draws on extensive knowledge of the different countries under investigation.

 

HumanEuroMed combines transnational and comparative history and it considers as focal points: the forms of cooperation, tensions, circulation of knowledge and expertise that have marked the interaction between the different actors of humanitarianism (government agencies, international organisation, NGOs); the role played by religious and political identities of humanitarians in the definition and implementation of aid programmes; the importance of gender both in determining aid policies and practices and in defining the skills and professional roles of humanitarians; the unfolding of aid programmes in a multiscale dimension (local, national, regional, transnational).

 

Methodology closely reflects our selection of sources. HumanEuroMed draws on a variety of archives both private (e.g. archives of national and international NGOs), and public (e.g. archives of state institutions and UN agencies). It also uses newspapers, photography and audio-visual documents that have recounted, represented and interpreted humanitarian programmes for a wide audience.