Ken Loach and the Save the Children Film: Humanitarianism, Imperialism, and the Changing Role of Charity in Postwar Britain

Abstract

This article offers a critical assessment of British humanitarianism using a case study of the first fifty years of one of its largest charities, the Save the Children Fund ðSCFÞ. It is an exercise the organization was once keen to conduct itself. In the run-up to its fiftieth anniversary celebrations in 1969, SCF decided to commission a film. Very much the "establishment" charity of the humanitarian sector, it nevertheless made a surprising decision to approach the avowedly left-wing, social realist filmmaker Ken Loach, who at that time was arguably reaching his creative peak ðhis most well-known film, Kes, was made in the same yearÞ. SCF did not want a film that simply celebrated the achievements of the organization over the years. It wanted a controversial documentary to be shown on national television that would highlight the problems of poverty in both Britain and the developing world and that would go on to showcase the work of SCF in alleviating suffering. Ideally, it sought to stamp on the public consciousness an association between film and charity like the one created when Loach's Cathy Come Home ðaired as a BBC Wednesday Play on November 16, 1966Þ was followed by the launch of the homelessness organization Shelter two weeks later. 1 Precisely because of Loach's prior success, SCF was happy to grant him free rein. 2 And while it hoped that the film would "reflect credit on the organisation," it knew it was not to be a "direct-appeal film"; indeed, SCF explicitly gave the film company "carte blanche in preparing the theme." 3 Loach took the instruction to heart. After he had visited Kenya to record SCF's activities, it seemed to him that

Domestic humanitarianism: the Mission France of Médecins Sans Frontières and Médecins du Monde

“…Humanitarianism, 'the desire to relieve the suffering of distant strangers' (Barnett 2009, 622), is constantly evolving. Its varied permu and in those cases, we provide the corresponding tations include, but do not exhaust charitable and abolitionist movements in industrialising Europe (Haskell 1985), the co-emergence of domestic charity and international humanitarianism in late 19th century Britain (Roddy et al 2015), European reconstruction efforts between the two World Wars (Baughan 2012;Hilton 2012), contemporary refugee aid around the globe (e.g. Lewis 2019; Lupieri 2020), faith-based international aid (e.g.…”

“…In addition, the data collection efforts were not only used as an internal justification tool, but also as a diagnostic instrument. Indeed, the quantitative data coupled with personal stories of the dramatic consequences of negative life changes and experiences of discrimination enabled the members of Mission France to document and campaign around the extent and mechanisms of healthcare exclusion (Deloche 1993;Deschamps and Luciolli 1990;Interview 7;Médecins du Monde 1995), and thus to precisely identify the gaps in the healthcare system -and ask for them to be filled.…”

Oxfam and the Problem of NGO Aid Appraisal in the 1960s

“…The charities spoke collectively through advocacy bodies such as the Voluntary Committee on Overseas Aid and Development (VCOAD), set up as the main point of liaison with the Ministry of Overseas Aid from 1965; through campaigns such as the Haslemere Declaration of 1968 calling for more official funding; through run-ins with the Charity Commissioners as they seemed to overstep their charitable remit with their more collective political pronouncements; and through the establishment of new pressure groups such as the World Development Movement in 1969. 13 Such rapid changes inevitably brought tensions within organizations as the recruitment of new, younger staff led to impatient demands for faster and more radical change. Oxfam created a position of deputy director and made the ambitious appointment of an outspoken campaigning clergymen, the Reverend Nicholas Stacey.…”