Saving the Children analyzes the intersection of liberal internationalism and imperialism through the history of the humanitarian organization Save the Children, from its formation during the First World War through the era of decolonization. Whereas Save the Children claimed that it was "saving children to save the world," the vision of the world it sought to save was strictly delimited, characterized by international capitalism and colonial rule. Emily Baughan's groundbreaking analysis, across fifty years and eighteen countries, shows that Britain's desire to create an international order favorable to its imperial rule shaped international humanitarianism. In revealing that modern humanitarianism and its conception of childhood are products of the early twentieth-century imperial economy, Saving the Children argues that the contemporary aid sector must reckon with its past if it is to forge a new future.
Emily Baughan is Lecturer in Modern British History at the University of Sheffield.
"This is an important study on the endgame of imperialism and humanitarianism. Using engaging stories and quick-moving narrative, Emily Baughan makes a case for understanding imperialism and humanitarianism in the twentieth century through the lens of an institutional history of Save the Children."—Michelle Tusan, author of The British Empire and the Armenian Genocide: Humanitarianism and Imperial Politics from Gladstone to Churchill
"Based on years of meticulous research and thoughtful analysis, this book resists easy conclusions and oversimplifications, always carefully parsing the complex dynamics of aid and development and effectively balancing the stories of institutions and individuals. A terrific addition to the Berkeley Series in British Studies!"—Jordanna Bailkin, author of The Afterlife of Empire
"A work that explores the impossible dream of ethical imperialism and the compromises demanded of humanitarianism. Challenging the idea of humanitarianism as a politically neutral form of aid, this important study offers a thoughtful critique that the international aid movement urgently needs to take on board."—Philippa Levine, author of The British Empire: Sunrise to Sunset
"This compelling, often troubling, and highly entertaining work poses a significant challenge to convenient moralistic explanations of the origins of humanitarian internationalism. Of huge contemporary relevance, it is a must-read for anyone concerned with rescuing the possibility of a fair and peaceful international order from the global political wilderness."—Gareth Owen, Humanitarian Director of Save the Children UK
314 pp.6 x 9Illus: 22 b/w illustrations
9780520343719$95.00|£80.00Hardcover
Nov 2021