By Morgan Jones, Sophia Kimber, Ava Masani, Seren Phillips

For our project we have chosen to create a puzzle, which demonstrates the range of interdisciplinary themes and ideas which an effective anthropological approach draws together to achieve a holistic view of different cultures. We believe this holistic anthropological approach constitutes for a successful and ethical humanitarian approach.

We have drawn from the central argument of Benton’s (2015) ethnographic research in Sierra Leone: that HIV is non-exceptional, and used this to show how anthropologists cannot focus on a singular topic but should rather integrate a range of perspectives to create a fuller picture on society and create the anthropological lens. Ultimately, we believe that anthropology embodies an in-depth understanding of the individual ‘puzzle pieces’ – social, cultural, economic, biological and political components – which can be pieced together in order to effectively tackle the social issue.

To further this idea, we have created a puzzle which is not limited to one final shape at its completion. This is intended to represent the different ways in which anthropology can be viewed, utilised and interpreted by different researchers. In this sense, the puzzle’s ambiguous shape is representative of the different approaches and positionalities of humanitarian aid workers in the development sector, as seen in the BBC 4 documentary ’The Trouble with Aid’ (2014). In this documentary we see different aid organisations making varying moral decisions after finding out that aid provisions were being mishandled by the militia who had committed the Rwandan genocide – whilst some left, others stayed until the camp became violent and unsafe. We also believe that the range of potential decision-making routes whilst building the puzzle shows the multitude of ways in which people interpret new challenges based on their subjective experiences and cultural background. This also means that we are not limiting our puzzle pieces to the themes we have chosen, but rather that we are using Benton’s (2015) broad understanding of an anthropological lens to show the multitude of opportunities and ideas that come from one piece of research.

Long-term ethnographic research is intrinsic to our understanding the importance of an anthropological perspective is important to understanding the deployment of humanitarian aid in the context of HIV discourse in Sierra Leone. Anthropologists do not only critique the deployment of aid but generate rich and contextualised accounts of experiences that are grounded in real-life observations. Rather than using a one size fits all methodology when administering aid, ethnographic research can help to provide individual accounts that reflect the long-term and changing nature of HIV and how it affects communities. The long-term nature of ethnographic research helps us to understand the changes that are common in humanitarian contexts, the many different organisations that come and go and how this is reflected in mundane and everyday interactions between researcher and interlocutor. Benton’s (2015) ethnographic research reflects this – conducting long-term research enabled Benton to display AIDs as non-exceptional. In the context of Sierra Leone, the history of civil war and chronic underdevelopment is imperative to understanding the experiences of communities; AIDS was not the only crisis that affected individuals’ lives.

Using the ethnographic example of HIV (Benton, 2015), our project focuses on eleven themes (culture, science, health, religion, community, the state, ethics, long-term research, biopolitics, Governmentality and ethnographic approach) that we saw as integral to the anthropological understanding of HIV in Sierra Leone, whilst also recognising that these themes can be used in other ethnographic examples of humanitarian aid. For us, these themes collectively create an effective anthropological lens.

Additionally, the long-term and on the ground nature of anthropological research methods means that individuals grow to trust researchers. As a result of this, experiences and details that may be reserved for non-outsiders might be shared with researchers, as interlocutors feel comfortable enough to discuss their experiences. Especially in the context of HIV/AIDs, where there are stigmas and taboos, trust is a slow process, and for this reason long-term anthropological research is important to building this trust. In these contexts where anthropologists are discussing personal information that could cause tension amongst members of a community, anthropologists are focussed on protecting the lives of the interlocutors through informed consent and anonymity. In the context of humanitarian aid, consent is difficult to be obtained by traditional written consent. In the Sierra Leone context, the signing of documents is difficult as the literacy rate of the country varies from region to region. The signing of documents also reflects a long history of power and subjugation as well as other cultural meanings depending on different individual experiences (Benton, 2015). For this reason, anthropologists in this context use consent as an ongoing process, one that reflects a focus on the ever-changing nature of HIV in Sierra Leone.

A holistic approach to humanitarianism must engage with societal power structures to reveal how aid operates within – and often reproduces – systemic inequalities. The state as a sovereign spatially bounded entity (Bourneman, 2015) plays a central role in the regulation and delivery of aid in relation to policy and governance. Aid can function as a project of government in its ability to sustain and regulate populations (Foucault, 1978). Thus, governmentality (as the art of government that manages populations) offers a framework for understanding how governmental power is exercised in humanitarian contexts as a form of governance through community (Li, 2007). Taken together, like pieces of a puzzle, a holistic approach to aid challenges the exceptionalism of humanitarianism, exposing embedded power relations and ensuring more ethical context-sensitive aid interventions.

In conclusion, our puzzle shows the importance of a holistic anthropological approach to humanitarian aid, demonstrating how diverse social, cultural, political and economic ‘pieces’ must be considered together. Drawing on Benton’s (2015) argument of HIV as non-exceptional, we highlight the value of long-term, context-sensitive research and ethical reflexivity. Ultimately, anthropology’s strength lies in embracing complexity and multiple perspectives, enabling more nuanced, responsible and effective aid interventions that respond to lived realities rather than simplified assumptions.

Bibliography

Benton, A. (2015). HIV Exceptionalism: Development through disease in Sierra Leone. University of Minnesota Press.

The Trouble With Aid. (2012). [Broadcast] England: BBC Four. Available at: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p012614w a (Accessed 19/04/2026)

Bourneman, J. (2015). ‘State: Anthropological aspects’, in Wright, J. D. (eds) International Encyclopaedia of the Social & Behavioural Sciences (2nd edition). Elsevier: 347-352.

Foucault, M. (1978). The history of sexuality: Volume 1, An introduction. Translated by Hurley, R. New York: Pantheon Books.

Li, M. T. (2007). ‘Rendering society technical: Government through community and the ethnographic turn at the World Bank in Indonesia’, in Mosse, D. (ed.) Adventures in aidland: The anthropology of professionals in international development. Berghahn Books: 57-79.

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