Faith, race and politics in British charitable humanitarianism since 1945
This paper examines the history of development when politics was placed at the front and centre of aid work. It does this by examining how humanitarian charities confronted the racial politics of apartheid Southern Africa. First, it uses a case study of inter-racial co-operatives set up by the missionaries, Guy and Molly Clutton-Brock, in Southern Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and Bechuanaland/Botswana. Their choice to tackle racism through development led to Guy’s arrest and deportation, though he was subsequently celebrated as a hero of African nationalism. The section part examines how the humanitarian sector as a whole addressed the issue of race. Oxfam and Christian Aid chose not to follow the lead taken by the World Council of Churches and its Programme to Combat Racism from 1969. They feared the intervention of the Charity Commissioners and the impact on their fundraising from the British public. Instead charities channelled their political beliefs through liberation theology and the basic needs agenda associated with the New International Economic Order. Apartheid was not opposed directly until the late-1980s. When the charities eventually did so the racial politics of South Africa ultimately shaped the regulation of charity in Britain.
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This page was last updated on 10 January 2025
