Author: Shai M. Dromi
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022668024X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 239
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.
Above the Fray
Author: Shai M. Dromi
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022668024X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 239
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.
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022668024X
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 239
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.
Humanitarian Imperialism
Author: Jean Bricmont
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 1583674888
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 193
Book Description
Since the end of the Cold War, the idea of human rights has been made into a justification for intervention by the world's leading economic and military powers—above all, the United States—in countries that are vulnerable to their attacks. The criteria for such intervention have become more arbitrary and self-serving, and their form more destructive, from Yugoslavia to Afghanistan to Iraq. Until the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the large parts of the left was often complicit in this ideology of intervention—discovering new “Hitlers” as the need arose, and denouncing antiwar arguments as appeasement on the model of Munich in 1938. Jean Bricmont’s Humanitarian Imperialism is both a historical account of this development and a powerful political and moral critique. It seeks to restore the critique of imperialism to its rightful place in the defense of human rights. It describes the leading role of the United States in initiating military and other interventions, but also on the obvious support given to it by European powers and NATO. It outlines an alternative approach to the question of human rights, based on the genuine recognition of the equal rights of people in poor and wealthy countries. Timely, topical, and rigorously argued, Jean Bricmont’s book establishes a firm basis for resistance to global war with no end in sight.
Publisher: NYU Press
ISBN: 1583674888
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 193
Book Description
Since the end of the Cold War, the idea of human rights has been made into a justification for intervention by the world's leading economic and military powers—above all, the United States—in countries that are vulnerable to their attacks. The criteria for such intervention have become more arbitrary and self-serving, and their form more destructive, from Yugoslavia to Afghanistan to Iraq. Until the U.S. invasion of Iraq, the large parts of the left was often complicit in this ideology of intervention—discovering new “Hitlers” as the need arose, and denouncing antiwar arguments as appeasement on the model of Munich in 1938. Jean Bricmont’s Humanitarian Imperialism is both a historical account of this development and a powerful political and moral critique. It seeks to restore the critique of imperialism to its rightful place in the defense of human rights. It describes the leading role of the United States in initiating military and other interventions, but also on the obvious support given to it by European powers and NATO. It outlines an alternative approach to the question of human rights, based on the genuine recognition of the equal rights of people in poor and wealthy countries. Timely, topical, and rigorously argued, Jean Bricmont’s book establishes a firm basis for resistance to global war with no end in sight.
Humanitarian Economics
Author: Gilles Carbonnier
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190613408
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 310
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.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190613408
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 310
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.
Shaping the Humanitarian World
Author: Peter Walker
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135977437
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 201
Book Description
Origins of the international humanitarian system -- Mercy and manipulation in the Cold War -- The globalization of humanitarianism : from the end of the Cold War to the global war on terror -- States as responders and donors -- International organizations -- NGOs and private action -- A brave new world, a better future?.
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1135977437
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 201
Book Description
Origins of the international humanitarian system -- Mercy and manipulation in the Cold War -- The globalization of humanitarianism : from the end of the Cold War to the global war on terror -- States as responders and donors -- International organizations -- NGOs and private action -- A brave new world, a better future?.
The Conceit of Humanitarian Intervention
Author: Rajan Menon
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199384878
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
The Conceit of Humanitarian Intervention rejects, on political, legal, ethical, and strategic grounds, the widespread claim that military force can be used effectively-and on the basis of a universal consensus-to stop mass atrocities. As such, it is an against-the-current treatment of an important practice in world politics.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199384878
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 257
Book Description
The Conceit of Humanitarian Intervention rejects, on political, legal, ethical, and strategic grounds, the widespread claim that military force can be used effectively-and on the basis of a universal consensus-to stop mass atrocities. As such, it is an against-the-current treatment of an important practice in world politics.
The Humanitarian Challenge
Author: Pat Gibbons
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319134701
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 293
Book Description
This book includes contributions from academics, practitioners and policy-makers connected with the Network on Humanitarian Action (NOHA), an international association of universities that is committed to interdisciplinary education and research on humanitarian action. Celebrating the twentieth anniversary of NOHA, this book highlights some of the most pressing issues and challenges facing humanitarian action and explores potential solutions. Drawing on theory and practice, and spanning a broad range of subject matter, the book explores the origin of key concepts such as human security, reconciliation and resilience and questions their effectiveness in the pursuit of humanitarian ends. It also charts current developments in the humanitarian system, in particular in its legal and financial frameworks. Issues relating to humanitarian stakeholders, such as the role of the media and the protection of humanitarian workers, are also addressed. The contributions are influenced by a range of disciplines, including anthropology, political science, legal studies and communications.
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319134701
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 293
Book Description
This book includes contributions from academics, practitioners and policy-makers connected with the Network on Humanitarian Action (NOHA), an international association of universities that is committed to interdisciplinary education and research on humanitarian action. Celebrating the twentieth anniversary of NOHA, this book highlights some of the most pressing issues and challenges facing humanitarian action and explores potential solutions. Drawing on theory and practice, and spanning a broad range of subject matter, the book explores the origin of key concepts such as human security, reconciliation and resilience and questions their effectiveness in the pursuit of humanitarian ends. It also charts current developments in the humanitarian system, in particular in its legal and financial frameworks. Issues relating to humanitarian stakeholders, such as the role of the media and the protection of humanitarian workers, are also addressed. The contributions are influenced by a range of disciplines, including anthropology, political science, legal studies and communications.
Humanitarian Ethics
Author: Hugo Slim
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190613327
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 374
Book Description
Humanitarians are required to be impartial, independent, professionally competent and focused only on preventing and alleviating human suffering. It can be hard living up to these principles when others do not share them, while persuading political and military authorities and non-state actors to let an agency assist on the ground requires savvy ethical skills. Getting first to a conflict or natural catastrophe is only the beginning, as aid workers are usually and immediately presented with practical and moral questions about what to do next. For example, when does working closely with a warring party or an immoral regime move from practical cooperation to complicity in human rights violations? Should one operate in camps for displaced people and refugees if they are effectively places of internment? Do humanitarian agencies inadvertently encourage ethnic cleansing by always being ready to 'mop-up' the consequences of scorched earth warfare? This book has been written to help humanitarians assess and respond to these and other ethical dilemmas.
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0190613327
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 374
Book Description
Humanitarians are required to be impartial, independent, professionally competent and focused only on preventing and alleviating human suffering. It can be hard living up to these principles when others do not share them, while persuading political and military authorities and non-state actors to let an agency assist on the ground requires savvy ethical skills. Getting first to a conflict or natural catastrophe is only the beginning, as aid workers are usually and immediately presented with practical and moral questions about what to do next. For example, when does working closely with a warring party or an immoral regime move from practical cooperation to complicity in human rights violations? Should one operate in camps for displaced people and refugees if they are effectively places of internment? Do humanitarian agencies inadvertently encourage ethnic cleansing by always being ready to 'mop-up' the consequences of scorched earth warfare? This book has been written to help humanitarians assess and respond to these and other ethical dilemmas.
The Humanitarian Leader in Each of Us
Author: Frank LaFasto
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISBN: 1483342506
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 209
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.
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISBN: 1483342506
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 209
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.
Managing Humanitarian Relief 2nd Edition
Author: Eric James
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781853399022
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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.
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781853399022
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0
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.
Humanitarian Aftershocks in Haiti
Author: Mark Schuller
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 0813574269
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 313
Book Description
The 2010 earthquake in Haiti was one of the deadliest disasters in modern history, sparking an international aid response—with pledges and donations of $16 billion—that was exceedingly generous. But now, five years later, that generous aid has clearly failed. In Humanitarian Aftershocks in Haiti, anthropologist Mark Schuller captures the voices of those involved in the earthquake aid response, and they paint a sharp, unflattering view of the humanitarian enterprise. Schuller led an independent study of eight displaced-persons camps in Haiti, compiling more than 150 interviews ranging from Haitian front-line workers and camp directors to foreign humanitarians and many displaced Haitian people. The result is an insightful account of why the multi-billion-dollar aid response not only did little to help but also did much harm, triggering a range of unintended consequences, rupturing Haitian social and cultural institutions, and actually increasing violence, especially against women. The book shows how Haitian people were removed from any real decision-making, replaced by a top-down, NGO-dominated system of humanitarian aid, led by an army of often young, inexperienced foreign workers. Ignorant of Haitian culture, these aid workers unwittingly enacted policies that triggered a range of negative results. Haitian interviewees also note that the NGOs “planted the flag,” and often tended to “just do something,” always with an eye to the “photo op” (in no small part due to the competition over funding). Worse yet, they blindly supported the eviction of displaced people from the camps, forcing earthquake victims to relocate in vast shantytowns that were hotbeds of violence. Humanitarian Aftershocks in Haiti concludes with suggestions to help improve humanitarian aid in the future, perhaps most notably, that aid workers listen to—and respect the culture of—the victims of catastrophe.
Publisher: Rutgers University Press
ISBN: 0813574269
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 313
Book Description
The 2010 earthquake in Haiti was one of the deadliest disasters in modern history, sparking an international aid response—with pledges and donations of $16 billion—that was exceedingly generous. But now, five years later, that generous aid has clearly failed. In Humanitarian Aftershocks in Haiti, anthropologist Mark Schuller captures the voices of those involved in the earthquake aid response, and they paint a sharp, unflattering view of the humanitarian enterprise. Schuller led an independent study of eight displaced-persons camps in Haiti, compiling more than 150 interviews ranging from Haitian front-line workers and camp directors to foreign humanitarians and many displaced Haitian people. The result is an insightful account of why the multi-billion-dollar aid response not only did little to help but also did much harm, triggering a range of unintended consequences, rupturing Haitian social and cultural institutions, and actually increasing violence, especially against women. The book shows how Haitian people were removed from any real decision-making, replaced by a top-down, NGO-dominated system of humanitarian aid, led by an army of often young, inexperienced foreign workers. Ignorant of Haitian culture, these aid workers unwittingly enacted policies that triggered a range of negative results. Haitian interviewees also note that the NGOs “planted the flag,” and often tended to “just do something,” always with an eye to the “photo op” (in no small part due to the competition over funding). Worse yet, they blindly supported the eviction of displaced people from the camps, forcing earthquake victims to relocate in vast shantytowns that were hotbeds of violence. Humanitarian Aftershocks in Haiti concludes with suggestions to help improve humanitarian aid in the future, perhaps most notably, that aid workers listen to—and respect the culture of—the victims of catastrophe.