Spaces of Aid

Every day, humanitarian aid workers around the world set off to play their part in lessening the radical and widespread inequality present in our modern, global society. Problematically, the humanitarian aid that the international community  provides is typically based on a set of idealised assumptions, what Smirl terms the “humanitarian imaginary.” It is this set of assumptions, their connection to physical spaces of aid, and the disassociation that this creates that Smirl sets out to examine in her book.

The physical setting of the aid environment is essential to the formation of relations in the conduct of humanitarian aid, and can be key to understanding the limitations of a mission. Yet since the advent of international aid, true analysis of its environment has remained overlooked. 

Spaces of Aid thoroughly examines spaces, objects, and environments, in the context of aid work. The first three chapters focus on the material and spatial environments of the international aid community. This is where the majority of the heavy theoretical discussion takes place. A very clear argument emerges here, which proves how essential an examination of material and spatial environments is to understanding every instance of aid intervention. 

Valuable examples — the compound, the SUV, and the luxury hotel — ground the theoretical discussion of spatial relations in reality. Gated compounds, for instance, create distance between the physical environment of the aid workers and the local community, maintaining ‘hierarchical spacial divisions’ reminiscent of colonialism. Similarly, the presence of security features perpetuates the conception that what exists outside the protective wall is dangerous. Ultimately, these approaches to the physical spaces of aid limit organisations’ efficacy in delivering their goals: the physical segregation between aid workers and the communities that they serve only exacerbates their pre-existing socio-emotional distance from them.

Following the theoretical discussion, the remaining two chapters make use of case studies to demonstrate the relationship between the physical and material, and the international aid worker and the local recipient. These case studies illustrate the manner in which preconceived conceptualisations of recipient communities determine the design of aid missions.

Both Smirl’s wealth of knowledge as a scholar, and her experience as a development professional make Spaces of Aid an impressive and ground-breaking analytical work. Its most important take-away: we must not consider spaces of aid as a tabula rasa. Every decision made by aid organisations originates from an outsider’s conceptualisation of what the “other” needs and must be recognised as such. We need to eliminate barriers between aid workers and the communities they serve — both physical and perceived — and in so doing heighten organisations’ understanding of these communities, an understanding which can be translated into better-designed, more effective humanitarian missions.

For more information on the book see Spaces of Aid by Lisa Smirl.