Author: Shai M. Dromi
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022668024X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 239
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Book Description
From Lake Chad to Iraq, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) provide relief around the globe, and their scope is growing every year. Policy makers and activists often assume that humanitarian aid is best provided by these organizations, which are generally seen as impartial and neutral. In Above the Fray, Shai M. Dromi investigates why the international community overwhelmingly trusts humanitarian NGOs by looking at the historical development of their culture. With a particular focus on the Red Cross, Dromi reveals that NGOs arose because of the efforts of orthodox Calvinists, demonstrating for the first time the origins of the unusual moral culture that has supported NGOs for the past 150 years. Drawing on archival research, Dromi traces the genesis of the Red Cross to a Calvinist movement working in mid-nineteenth-century Geneva. He shows how global humanitarian policies emerged from the Red Cross founding members’ faith that an international volunteer program not beholden to the state was the only ethical way to provide relief to victims of armed conflict. By illustrating how Calvinism shaped the humanitarian field, Dromi argues for the key role belief systems play in establishing social fields and institutions. Ultimately, Dromi shows the immeasurable social good that NGOs have achieved, but also points to their limitations and suggests that alternative models of humanitarian relief need to be considered.
Author: Julia F. Irwin
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199990085
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 288
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Book Description
In Making the World Safe, historian Julia Irwin offers an insightful account of the American Red Cross, from its founding in 1881 by Clara Barton to its rise as the government's official voluntary aid agency. Equally important, Irwin shows that the story of the Red Cross is simultaneously a story of how Americans first began to see foreign aid as a key element in their relations with the world. As the American Century dawned, more and more Americans saw the need to engage in world affairs and to make the world a safer place--not by military action but through humanitarian aid. It was a time perfectly suited for the rise of the ARC. Irwin shows how the early and vigorous support of William H. Taft--who was honorary president of the ARC even as he served as President of the United States--gave the Red Cross invaluable connections with the federal government, eventually making it the official agency to administer aid both at home and abroad. Irwin describes how, during World War I, the ARC grew at an explosive rate and extended its relief work for European civilians into a humanitarian undertaking of massive proportions, an effort that was also a major propaganda coup. Irwin also shows how in the interwar years, the ARC's mission meshed well with presidential diplomatic styles, and how, with the coming of World War II, the ARC once again grew exponentially, becoming a powerful part of government efforts to bring aid to war-torn parts of the world. The belief in the value of foreign aid remains a central pillar of U.S. foreign relations. Making the World Safe reveals how this belief took hold in America and the role of the American Red Cross in promoting it.
Author: Christopher J Coyne
Publisher: Stanford University Press
ISBN: 0804786119
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 273
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Book Description
An economics-focused analysis of why humanitarian relief efforts fail and how they can be remedied. In 2010, Haiti was ravaged by a brutal earthquake that affected the lives of millions. The call to assist those in need was heard around the globe. Yet two years later humanitarian efforts led by governments and NGOs have largely failed. Resources are not reaching the needy due to bureaucratic red tape, and many assets have been squandered. How can efforts intended to help the suffering fail so badly? In this timely and provocative book, Christopher J. Coyne uses the economic way of thinking to explain why this and other humanitarian efforts that intend to do good end up doing nothing or causing harm. In addition to Haiti, Coyne considers a wide range of interventions. He explains why the US government was ineffective following Hurricane Katrina, why the international humanitarian push to remove Muammar Gaddafi in Libya may very well end up causing more problems than prosperity, and why decades of efforts to respond to crises and foster development around the world have resulted in repeated failures. In place of the dominant approach to state-led humanitarian action, this book offers a bold alternative, focused on establishing an environment of economic freedom. If we are willing to experiment with aid—asking questions about how to foster development as a process of societal discovery, or how else we might engage the private sector, for instance—we increase the range of alternatives to help people and empower them to improve their communities. Anyone concerned with and dedicated to alleviating human suffering in the short term or for the long haul, from policymakers and activists to scholars, will find this book to be an insightful and provocative reframing of humanitarian action. Praise for Doing Bad by Doing Good “Coyne is to be congratulated for a book that strongly calls into question the conventional wisdom that we must look first to government to accomplish humanitarian ends.” —George Leef, Regulation Magazine “Coyne attempts to explain why conventional approaches to humanitarian aid and longer-term economic development have failed miserably . . . . Recommended.” —M. Q. Dao, Choice “Coyne offers a classic neo-liberal economic analysis to explain why the humanitarian project in its current state is doomed.” —Zoe Cormack, Times Literary Supplement
Author: Gilles Carbonnier
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190613408
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 310
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Book Description
While the booming humanitarian sector faces daunting challenges, humanitarian economics emerges as a new field of study and practice--one that encompasses the economics and political economy of war, disaster, terrorism and humanitarianism. Carbonnier's book is the first to present humanitarian economics to a wide readership, defining its parameters, explaining its utility and convincing us why it matters. Among the issues he discusses are: how are emotions and altruism incorporated within a rational-choice framework? How do the economics of war and terrorism inform humanitarians' negotiations with combatants, and shed light on the role of aid in conflict? What do catastrophe bonds and risk-linked securities hold for disaster response? As more actors enter the humanitarian marketplace (including private firms), Carbonnier's revealing portrayal is especially timely, as is his critique of the transformative power of crises.
Author: Christian Buckley
Publisher: Moody Publishers
ISBN: 1575674912
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 222
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Book Description
A resurgence of the Social Gospel is energizing many evangelicals, but what does the Bible say about the role of humanitarian works in the Christian life? As new covenant believers, Christians are called to a specific central task: to be ministers of God's message of salvation for sinners. At the same time, the New Testament justifies nearly every concern of the revitalized Social Gospel. Care for the poor and needy, reconciliation of social and racial divisions, and nurture for the sick and abused -- all can be biblical and Christ-honoring activities. Ryan Dobson and Christian Buckley have a message for believers on either side of the battle lines hardening around today's Social Gospel. To those on the Religious Left, they say: "Don't forget that Jesus Christ died to save sinners, not to bring about political change." To those on the Religious Right, they say: "Don't forget that Jesus spent much of his time helping the sick, the poor, and the needy." A corrective and a call to action all in one, Humanitarian Jesus shows that evangelism and good works coexist harmoniously when social investment is subservient to and supportive of the church's primary mission of worship, evangelism, and discipleship. In accessible and non-academic style, Dobson and Buckley outline the biblical case for humanitarian concern. They also engage the topic through interviews with leading Christian thinkers, activists, and humanitarian workers -- including Franklin Graham, Gary Haugen, Ron Sider, Tony Campolo, and many more -- seeking to define a broadly biblical approach to good works that all Christians can join hands around.
Author: Frank LaFasto
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISBN: 1483342506
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 209
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Book Description
From the authors of the best-selling books ′TeamWork′ and ′When Teams Work Best′. Frank LaFasto, Susie Scott Krabacher and other contributors to the book in conversation at the World of Children awards, hosted by UNICEF, November 1st, 2011 in New York. "This short book gives me hope that giants continue to walk the earth, lending a hand to those in need of extraordinary help."—Dr. Matthew Goldstein, Chancellor, City University of New York "So many of us want to help, but don′t know where to begin. The deeply moving stories of the remarkable people profiled in this book help point the way." —United States Senator Mark Udall "A powerful, moving, and substantive book that puts leadership in the hands of everyday people."—Peter G. Northouse, Western Michigan University, author of Leadership: Theory and Practice Susie Scott Krabacher, a former Playboy centerfold, devotes her life to helping women and children in the desperate slums of Haiti. Ryan Hreljac, at age 6, launches an organization to build wells in countries where water is scarce. Larry Bradley, a U.S. army major in Iraq, mobilizes an international effort to save the life of one local boy. Victor Dukay, himself orphaned at a young age, builds a center in Tanzania for children who have lost parents to AIDS. Inderjit Khurana, a teacher in India, creates a network of train "platform schools" to educate impoverished street children. How do seemingly ordinary people come to take such extraordinary action? Best-selling authors Frank LaFasto and Carl Larson embarked on a 5-year quest to find out. In this book, they offer a fascinating look into the origins of humanitarian leadership in the lives of 31 individuals. Based on their groundbreaking research, LaFasto and Larson trace a path of 7 pivotal choices. The path begins with connecting deeply and personally with the needs of others and culminates in leading the way for more people to get involved. The first 7 chapters of this book tell the stories of this remarkable group of leaders and describe their choices. The final 3 chapters explore the impact of 31 people on the world′s problems, the relationship between helping and personal happiness, and practical advice for getting started in a helping effort. In this inspiring book, LaFasto and Larson show how each of us can translate our own good intentions into good deeds--and enrich our own lives along the way.
Author: Eric James
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781853399022
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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Book Description
Managing Humanitarian Relief is aimed at the relief worker who in the midst of these complex situations is putting together a programme of action to help people in extreme crisis. It provides humanitarian relief managers with a single comprehensive reference for many of the management issues they are likely to encounter in the field.
Author: Polly Pallister-Wilkins
Publisher: Verso Books
ISBN: 1839766018
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 225
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Book Description
Winner of the 2023 International Political Sociology Book Award The seamy underside of humanitarianism What does it mean when humanitarianism is the response to death, injury and suffering at the border? This book interrogates the politics of humanitarian responses to border violence and unequal mobility, arguing that such responses mask underlying injustices, depoliticise violent borders and bolster liberal and paternalist approaches to suffering. Focusing on the diversity of actors involved in humanitarian assistance alongside the times and spaces of action, the book draws a direct line between privileges of movement and global inequalities of race, class, gender and disability rooted in colonial histories and white supremacy and humanitarian efforts that save lives while entrenching such inequalities. Based on eight years of research with border police, European Union officials, professional humanitarians, and grassroots activists in Europe’s borderlands, including Italy and Greece, the book argues that this kind of saving lives builds, expands and deepens already restrictive borders and exclusive and exceptional identities through what the book calls humanitarian borderwork.
Author: Taylor B. Seybolt
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0199252432
Category : Altruism
Languages : en
Pages : 314
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Book Description
Military intervention in a conflict without a reasonable prospect of success is unjustifiable, especially when it is done in the name of humanity. Couched in the debate on the responsibility to protect civilians from violence and drawing on traditional 'just war' principles, the centralpremise of this book is that humanitarian military intervention can be justified as a policy option only if decision makers can be reasonably sure that intervention will do more good than harm. This book asks, 'Have past humanitarian military interventions been successful?' It defines success as saving lives and sets out a methodology for estimating the number of lives saved by a particular military intervention. Analysis of 17 military operations in six conflict areas that were thedefining cases of the 1990s-northern Iraq after the Gulf War, Somalia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Rwanda, Kosovo and East Timor-shows that the majority were successful by this measure. In every conflict studied, however, some military interventions succeeded while others failed, raising the question, 'Why have some past interventions been more successful than others?' This book argues that the central factors determining whether a humanitarian intervention succeeds are theobjectives of the intervention and the military strategy employed by the intervening states. Four types of humanitarian military intervention are offered: helping to deliver emergency aid, protecting aid operations, saving the victims of violence and defeating the perpetrators of violence. Thefocus on strategy within these four types allows an exploration of the political and military dimensions of humanitarian intervention and highlights the advantages and disadvantages of each of the four types.Humanitarian military intervention is controversial. Scepticism is always in order about the need to use military force because the consequences can be so dire. Yet it has become equally controversial not to intervene when a government subjects its citizens to massive violation of their basic humanrights. This book recognizes the limits of humanitarian intervention but does not shy away from suggesting how military force can save lives in extreme circumstances.
Author: Atsushi Hanatani
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1351006800
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 203
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Book Description
In addressing humanitarian crises, the international community has long understood the need to extend beyond providing immediate relief, and to engage with long-term recovery activities and the prevention of similar crises in the future. However, this continuum from short-term relief to rehabilitation and development has often proved difficult to achieve. This book aims to shed light on the continuum of humanitarian crisis management, particularly from the viewpoint of major bilateral donors and agencies. Focusing on cases of armed conflicts and disasters, the authors describe the evolution of approaches and lessons learnt in practice when moving from emergency relief to recovery and prevention of future crises. Drawing on an extensive research project conducted by the Japan International Cooperation Agency Research Institute, this book compares how a range of international organizations, bilateral cooperation agencies, NGOs, and research institutes have approached the continuum in international humanitarian crisis management. The book draws on six humanitarian crises case studies, each resulting from armed conflict or natural disasters: Timor-Leste, South Sudan, the Syrian crisis, Hurricane Mitch in Honduras, the Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami in Indonesia, and Typhoon Yolanda. The book concludes by proposing a common conceptual framework designed to appeal to different stakeholders involved in crisis management. Following on from the World Humanitarian Summit, where a new way of working on the humanitarian-development nexus was highlighted as one of five major priority trends, this book is a timely contribution to the debate which should interest researchers of humanitarian studies, conflict and peace studies, and disaster risk-management.
