This article traces the origin, both in North America and Europe, of one of the critical debates on humanitarianism. Drawing on field experience on sites paradigmatic for defining the boundaries of humanitarianism, the two authors explore how Foucault’s and Agamben’s concepts of biopolitics, critical medical anthropology, a new perspective of critic of development and the increasingly vocal discourse of humanitarian actors themselves have all informed a nuanced and complex understanding of humanitarian action.