This chapter, on the rise of ‘populist humanitarianism’, describes the moment when the NGO sector’s appeal expanded irrevocably. The basic narrative will be familiar to many readers: the brutal famine, exaggerated by conflict, that ravaged the Horn of Africa in the mid-1980s; the vital role played by Western media outlets in driving the response; and the movement, led by celebrity humanitarians like Bob Geldof, that raised donations and popular engagement with the crisis to unprecedented levels. In many ways, that ‘movement’ ran counter to the principles on which the NGO sector had been constructed: it was anti-establishment, anti-bureaucratic, youth-focused and had a broad class base. Nonetheless, this chapter argues, it was the sector’s dexterity and its ability to mobilise its own bureaucracy to capture the rewards of the popular response, that was crucial in sealing its future success. By emphasising the twin calling cards of expertise and access to those in need in Ethiopia, the campaigns of the mid-1980s widened the support base for NGOs, reinforced their hierarchical, interventionist and depoliticising tendencies, and gave those organisations the resources that established them at the forefront of a new wave of popular engagement with the Third World.

This chapter, on the rise of ‘populist humanitarianism’, describes the moment when the NGO sector’s appeal expanded irrevocably. The basic narrative will be familiar to many readers: the brutal famine, exaggerated by conflict, that ravaged the Horn of Africa in the mid-1980s; the vital role played by Western media outlets in driving the response; and the movement, led by celebrity humanitarians like Bob Geldof, that raised donations and popular engagement with the crisis to unprecedented levels. In many ways, that ‘movement’ ran counter to the principles on which the NGO sector had been constructed: it was anti-establishment, anti-bureaucratic, youth-focused and had a broad class base. Nonetheless, this chapter argues, it was the sector’s dexterity and its ability to mobilise its own bureaucracy to capture the rewards of the popular response, that was crucial in sealing its future success. By emphasising the twin calling cards of expertise and access to those in need in Ethiopia, the campaigns of the mid-1980s widened the support base for NGOs, reinforced their hierarchical, interventionist and depoliticising tendencies, and gave those organisations the resources that established them at the forefront of a new wave of popular engagement with the Third World.

This chapter takes a long view of the evolution of appeals for emergency aid. Our case studies of Ireland, Soviet Russia, and Ethiopia illustrate the trajectory of humanitarian fundraising over time. The chapter provides new empirical research on appeals for aid in each case, while identifying key distinctions as well as striking similarities and continuities in discourse and practice. In each case, transnational aid mobilisation gained momentum when the disaster received media attention after the crisis had escalated. The socio-political context differed, as Soviet Russia and Ethiopia were ruled by regimes hostile to the West, making transnational aid a delicate matter, while Ireland was part of the British Empire. While Irish and Russian representatives appealed directly to donors, Ethiopian victims depended on brokers abroad to make the calls for aid. However, humanitarian actors were also forced to complement their support for distant sufferers with ancillary campaigns for the local charity market.