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This text engages a critical analysis of humanitarian discourses and practices regarding our understanding of migration and the public policies developed in relation to the population movementsacross international borders. It is based on the premise that humanitarianism, even if well intentioned, can have pernicious effects if, eventually, it ends up replacing justice and migrants' rights. To explore this paradox, the paper sequentially analyzes various problems associated with humanitarian aid: the problem of innocence —the understanding of refugees as victims calls for humanitarian compassion—; the problem with emergency —«rapid response» operations inhibit the contextualized and historical understanding of the root causes of the problems—; and, finally, the problem of compassion —humanitarianism privilegessentiments over rights. The study of these three key features of humanitarianism in Europe and the USA fosters a healthy skepticism of the emerging forms of the legitimation of exclusion. The article also explores alternative political and discursive strategies which allow for new imaginaries to confront migratory processes beyond borders and humanitarianism, breaking up their dynamic of reproduction of social inequalities and placing justice in the horizon of action. ; Este texto plantea un análisis crítico del papel de los discursos y prácticas humanitaristas en nuestra concepción de la migración y en las políticas públicas desarrolladas en relación a la movilidad poblacional a través de las fronteras internacionales. Se parte de la premisa de que el humanitarismo, aunque fuera bien intencionado, puede tener efectos perniciosos sobre la situación que se vive en las fronteras, especialmente si acaba por sustituir a la justicia y a los derechos que tienen los emigrantes. Para estudiar esta paradoja, el texto analiza, sucesivamente, varios problemas asociados a la acción humanitaria: el problema con la inocencia —la victimización de refugiados les hace objeto de compasión humanitaria—; el problema con la emergencia —con dinámicas de 'acción inmediata' que impiden la comprensión contextualizada e histórica de los fenómenos—; y, finalmente, el problema de la compasión —el humanitarismo se asocia más con sentimientos que con derechos. El análisis de estas tres categorías claves en las retóricas humanitaristas tanto en Europa como en Estados Unidos permite, a fin de cuentas, un sano escepticismo frente a nuevas formas de legitimación de la exclusión. La autora explora también estrategias políticas y discursivas alternativas que sientan las bases de nuevos imaginarios más allá de las fronteras y de humanitarismos que reproducen la desigualdad global eludiendo enfrentar la justicia como horizonte de acción.

This text engages a critical analysis of humanitarian discourses and practices regarding our understanding of migration and the public policies developed in relation to the population movementsacross international borders. It is based on the premise that humanitarianism, even if well intentioned, can have pernicious effects if, eventually, it ends up replacing justice and migrants' rights. To explore this paradox, the paper sequentially analyzes various problems associated with humanitarian aid: the problem of innocence —the understanding of refugees as victims calls for humanitarian compassion—; the problem with emergency —«rapid response» operations inhibit the contextualized and historical understanding of the root causes of the problems—; and, finally, the problem of compassion —humanitarianism privilegessentiments over rights. The study of these three key features of humanitarianism in Europe and the USA fosters a healthy skepticism of the emerging forms of the legitimation of exclusion. The article also explores alternative political and discursive strategies which allow for new imaginaries to confront migratory processes beyond borders and humanitarianism, breaking up their dynamic of reproduction of social inequalities and placing justice in the horizon of action. ; Este texto plantea un análisis crítico del papel de los discursos y prácticas humanitaristas en nuestra concepción de la migración y en las políticas públicas desarrolladas en relación a la movilidad poblacional a través de las fronteras internacionales. Se parte de la premisa de que el humanitarismo, aunque fuera bien intencionado, puede tener efectos perniciosos sobre la situación que se vive en las fronteras, especialmente si acaba por sustituir a la justicia y a los derechos que tienen los emigrantes. Para estudiar esta paradoja, el texto analiza, sucesivamente, varios problemas asociados a la acción humanitaria: el problema con la inocencia —la victimización de refugiados les hace objeto de compasión humanitaria—; el problema con la emergencia —con dinámicas de 'acción inmediata' que impiden la comprensión contextualizada e histórica de los fenómenos—; y, finalmente, el problema de la compasión —el humanitarismo se asocia más con sentimientos que con derechos. El análisis de estas tres categorías claves en las retóricas humanitaristas tanto en Europa como en Estados Unidos permite, a fin de cuentas, un sano escepticismo frente a nuevas formas de legitimación de la exclusión. La autora explora también estrategias políticas y discursivas alternativas que sientan las bases de nuevos imaginarios más allá de las fronteras y de humanitarismos que reproducen la desigualdad global eludiendo enfrentar la justicia como horizonte de acción.

This review traces anthropological studies of humanitarianism starting in the late 1980s, when humanitarianism began to take shape as a particular moral and political project through the formation of transnational nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). It follows both the evolving relationship of anthropologists to humanitarianism—initially as allies, then as critics, alternately embracing and challenging their conjoined humanist legacy—and the growing field of the anthropology of humanitarianism.

This article explores how 'biology' — in the sense that bodies are increasingly understood in biological terms, from the molecular to the species level — is becoming more central in the recognition of political worth, and I argue that humanitarians are key players in producing this reality. I focus on the role biology plays in the politics of immigration. Combining ethnographic research with undocumented immigrants in Paris and asylum claimants in the US, I examine how biology has become a central tool in the ability to travel. How did pathology (i.e. illness) or violations of anatomy (i.e. torture, sexual violence) become the 'best' ways to get papers as an undocumented immigrant — better than selling one's labor power? I suggest that biological evidence — of illness, of torture, of immunity levels — are used as key measurements of suffering, which justifies humanitarian exceptions, in this case, for papers. My argument is that there is a dual regime of truth at work, where the multiple ontologies of biology get reduced to one epistemology of biology as 'fixed' when it concerns immigrants and refugees, due to the role of humanitarianism in the politics of immigration. This is explored in the context of profound inequalities between those in the global North and South, asking how the hope offered by biological evidence takes on different meanings and consequences depending on one's position in the global matrix of wealth and poverty, race and gender.