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Christine Unrau, Käte Hamburger Kolleg, Centre for Global Cooperation Research, Essen/Universität KölnE-Mail: &#60;unrau@gcr21.uni-due.de&#62;Humanitarianism - as a concept and as a practice - has become a major factor in world society: It channels an enormous amount of resources and serves as an argument for different kinds of interference into the "internal affairs" of a country. It is therefore a fertile testing ground for successful and unsuccessful cooperation across borders. Atthe same time, humanitarian action is a form of cooperation that is rooted in cultures of gift-giving, even though they are sometimes exploited for strategic aims.Against this backdrop, the Centre for Global Cooperation Research, incooperation with the Institute for Advanced Study in the Humanities (KWI), organized the conference "Humanitarianism and Changing Cultures of Cooperation" from June 5-7, 2014. As suggested in the title, the aimof the conference was to shed light both on humanitarianism, itsambivalences and dilemmas, and its relevance for questions of globalcooperation.Presenters came from the US, the UK, the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway,Germany and Uganda. Among the speakers and audience there were bothjunior researchers and internationally renowned scholars, some of themwith a long experience both as academics and practitioners.During the conference, three clusters of topics emerged: The question ofmotivations, legitimations and aims of humanitarian actions, the meaningof new global contexts and the emergence of new actors. These issueswere discussed from different disciplinary angles including history,philosophy, anthropology, political science and sociology.You will find the complete conference report @:http://hsozkult.geschichte.hu-berlin.de/tagungsberichte/id=5505Conference OverviewWelcomeClaus Leggewie (KWI Essen)Opening RemarksVolker Heins (KHK/GCR21, Duisburg / KWI Essen / University of Bochum)Panel 1: Histories of Humanitarianism: Cooperation and PaternalismChair: Alexandra Przyrembel (Freie Universität Berlin)Francesca Piana (Swiss National Science Foundation / ColumbiaUniversity):'A Red Crux on a White Flag': The Visual Politics of the ICRC after WWIFlorian Hannig (University of Halle-Wittenberg):The Biafra concern in West Germany: Historicizing empathyCharlotte Walker-Said (City University of New York):Science and Charity: Humanitarianism and the End of EmpireJeff Roquen (Lehigh University, Pennsylvania):America's first humanitarian intervention, 1895-1898Käte Hamburger LectureThomas G. Weiss (CUNY Graduate Center):Humanitarianism's Contested Culture. Pollyanna Is Not a Role ModelDiscussants: Dennis Dijkzeul (University of Bochum) and David Chandler(University of Westminster)LectureFritz Breithaupt (Indiana University):The Dark Sides of Empathy: Nietzsche's Objection Against Empathy and theFuture of HumanitarianismDiscussants: Frank Adloff (University of Erlangen-Nürnberg) andChristine Unrau (KHK/GCR21 Duisburg, University of Cologne)Panel 2: Humanitarianism, Religion and Transculturality: Cooperation andSensibilityChair: Claus Leggewie (KWI Essen)Mathis Danelzik (KWI Essen):Shaping, marginalizing and cooperating with religious authority: Thecase of campaigns to end female genital mutilationJochen Kleres (University of Gothenburg):Humanitarianism, Development and Shifting Emotional ClimatesMayke Kaag (University of Leiden):Islamic charities from the Arab world in Africa: Transculturalencounters of humanitarianism and moralityPanel 3: Humanitarianism, Peacebuilding and the Military: Cooperationand ComplicityChair: Dirk Messner (German Development Institute / Deutsches Institutfür  Entwicklungspolitik)Antonio Donini (Feinstein International Center at Tufts University andGraduate Center, Geneva):Deep lessons from AfghanistanAdam Branch (Makerere Institute of Social Research, Uganda):Assembling for protection: The politics of transnational militarizationin AfricaKai Koddenbrock (KHK/GCR21, Duisburg):Reconfiguring Goma: The political economy of humanitarianism andpeacebuilding in Eastern CongoAidan Hehir (University of Westminster):R2P after the Arab Spring: The perennial need for UN military reform?LectureSeyla Benhabib (Yale University):From the Right to Have Rights to the Critique of Humanitarian Reason.Against the Cynical Turn in Human Rights DiscoursePanel 4: New Players in Global Humanitarianism: Cooperation andCompetitionChair: Volker Heins (KHK/GCR21, Duisburg / University of Bochum)Cindy Horst (Peace Research Institute Oslo):Diaspora humanitarianism: The invisibility of a third humanitarianspaceDevon Curtis (University of Cambridge):China and the Insecurity of Development in the Democratic Republic ofthe Congo (DRC)Jutta Joachim (University of Hannover) / Andrea Schneiker (University ofSiegen):Private military and security companies: New players in global aidgovernanceConcluding RemarksDennis Dijkzeul (University of Bochum) and David Chandler (University ofWestminster)