The Dispositif of Academic Humanitarianism

This article argues that academic humanitarianism, characterized by an expanding infrastructure of scholar protection programs, networks, and expertise, has crystallized into an emergent dispositif. Building on a Foucauldian understanding of the dispositif as a heterogeneous ensemble of institutions, discourses, administrative techniques, and moral commitments, it shows how scholar protection in Europe operates at the intersection of humanitarian reason and the political economy of contemporary higher education. The article maps three productive lines through which academic humanitarianism is organized and contested: institutional-material support mechanisms, knowledge production, and governmental rationalities. These dynamics are illustrated with reference to European programs and networks and the competitive cooperation characterizing universities, NGOs, funding bodies, and state actors. The article concludes by drawing attention to the zones of invisibility at the margins of the dispositif, suggesting potential lines of inquiry for alternative imaginaries of academic solidarity.

Critical appraisal · Intersection (aeronautics) · Invisibility · Politics · State (computer science) · Academic Freedom and Politics · Higher Education Governance and Development · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics