This paper will present the starting points for the interpretation of the transformation of humanitarian work, along with providing examples indicative of its professionalisation and the close relationship it has developed with the domain of political activity. Originally conceived as a philanthropic project and based around the imperative of saving lives and/or reducing suffering, humanitarianism has formalised the concept of providing aid in the past few decades and has begun to manifest aspects typical of corporate and business culture. The practice of professionalisation and the relationship between the two terms seemingly presenting contradictory attitudes towards humanitarian work – seeing it as either aid or business – are problematised on the basis of the ethnography of work and an analysis of the interviews conducted with humanitarian workers from the refugee camp in Slavonski Brod.

Članak nastoji prikazati polazišta za tumačenje transformacije humanitarnog rada i oprimjeriti prakse koje upućuju na njegovu profesionalizaciju i izgradnju bliskog odnosa s područjem političkog djelovanja. Zasnovan kao filantropijski projekt i imperativ o spašavanju života i/ili reduciranju patnje, u posljednjih nekoliko desetljeća humanitarizam je formalizirao koncept pružanja pomoći i počeo se manifestirati u aspektima tipičnima za poslovnu i korporacijsku kulturu. Prakse profesionalizacije i odnos između dva pojma koji ostavljaju dojam suprotstavljenih varijanti shvaćanja humanitarnog rada – pomoć i posao – problematiziraju se na osnovi etnografije rada i analize intervjua provedenih s humanitarnim radnicima iz izbjegličkog kampa u Slavonskom Brodu.