Reading the Book “Who Gives to Whom? Reframing Africa in the Humanitarian Imaginaryâ€

This article is a review of the book “Who Gives to Whom? Reframing Africa in the Humanitarian Imaginary†(edited by C. Kemedjio and C. Lynch, Palgrave Macmillan, Springer Nature, Switzerland AG, ISBN 978-3-031-46552-9, ISBN 978-3-031-46553-6 (e-book), https://doi. org/10.1007/978-3-031-46553-6, 268 pp.) published in 2024. The authors of the monograph, most of whom work at the University of California, Irvine (USA), discuss the need to reconsider the principles of providing humanitarian aid to African countries. They provide the examples of the negative consequences of providing economic aid, promoting women’s organizations, protecting children’s rights in Uganda, Ghana, Congo and other African countries. Many authors describe their own experience of conducting field research and working in humanitarian organizations. The book’s main question is about the balance between given and received aid, which, according to the authors, is provided by Africa to the West, and not vice versa, as it is traditionally believed.