They (humanities) mainly exist to perpetuate and legitimize state power over the individual. It serves the interests of elites and their prestigious media (the ones that win the awards they made up to differentiate themselves) gets to propagate the (predetermined) outcomes from the "studies" their elite institutions publish. This in turn makes these institutions and adjacent power structures (NGOs, media, activist networks, etc) even more powerful as it turns into policy and it's a never ending loop of self legitimization and justification.