Understanding the Humanitarian World

Understanding the Humanitarian World
Author: Daniel Maxwell
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 148
Release: 2019-04-17
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000007618

Conflict and disaster have been part of human history for as long as it has been recorded. Over time, more mechanisms for responding to crises have developed and become more systematized. Today a large and complex ‘global humanitarian response system’ made up of a multitude of local, national and international actors carries out a wide variety of responses. Understanding this intricate system, and the forces that shape it, are the core focus of this book. Daniel G Maxwell and Kirsten Gelsdorf highlight the origins, growth, and specific challenges to, humanitarian action and examine why the contemporary system functions as it does. They outline the main actors, explore how they are organised and look at the ways they plan and carry out their operations. Interrogating major contemporary debates and controversies in the humanitarian system, and the reasons why actions undertaken in its name remain the subject of so much controversy, they provide an important overview of the contemporary humanitarian system and the ways it may develop in the future. This book offers a nuanced understanding of the way humanitarian action operates in the 21st century. It will be essential reading for anyone with an interest in international human rights law, disaster management and international relations. For more information, please see the authors' website: https://www.understandingthehumanitarianworld.com/

Shaping the Humanitarian World

Shaping the Humanitarian World
Author: Peter Walker
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 201
Release: 2014-08-07
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1135977437

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 International Humanitarian Order

The International Humanitarian Order
Author: Michael Barnett
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 505
Release: 2009-12-16
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1135190550

One of the genuinely remarkable but relatively unnoticed developments of the last half-century is the blossoming of an international humanitarian order – a complex of norms, informal institutions, laws, and discourses that legitimate and compel various kinds of interventions by state and nonstate actors with the explicit goal of preserving and protecting human life. For those who have sacrificed to build this order, and for those who have come to rely on it, the international humanitarian represents a towering achievement cause for sobriety. What kind of international humanitarian order is being imagined, created and practiced? To what extent are the international agents of this order deliverers of progress or disappointment? Featuring previously published and original essays, this collection offers a critical assessment of the practices and politics of global ethical interventions in the context of the post-cold war transformation of the international humanitarian order. After an introduction that introduces the reader to the concept and the significance of the international humanitarian order, Section I explores the braided relationship between international order and the UN, whiles Section II critically examines international ethics in practice. The Conclusion reflects on these and other themes, asking why the international humanitarian order retains such a loyal following despite its flaws, what is the relationship of this order to power and politics, how such relationships implicate our understanding of moral progress, and how the international humanitarian order challenges both practitioners and scholars to rethink the meaning of their vocations.

The Vulnerable Humanitarian

The Vulnerable Humanitarian
Author: Gemma Houldey
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 154
Release: 2021-09-27
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1000432556

The Vulnerable Humanitarian challenges the prevalence of stress and burnout culture within the aid sector, laying bare the issues of power, agency, security and wellbeing that continue to trouble organisations and staff. Engaging and insightful, this book illustrates the problematic and unrealistic expectations of aid workers through the archetype of the perfect humanitarian, and considers why burnout is so endemic, yet so rarely acknowledged, within aid organisations. The book provides practical means through which staff and managers can reflect upon and discuss damaging organisational cultures and behaviours, and develop a more inclusive and caring work environment. Drawing on original academic research and interviews with national and international aid workers and development experts, the book proposes a feminist, anti-racist and decolonial agenda in challenging oppressive systems and structures within the sector. With extensive professional experience as an aid worker herself, Gemma Houldey also shares her own struggles with mental health and what she has learned from feminist practices for self- and collective care. Proposing new ways of addressing wellbeing that are sensitive to the multi-faceted personalities and lived experiences of people working on aid and development programmes, The Vulnerable Humanitarian is essential reading both for current aid sector employees and for prospective employees and students.

Humanitarian Governance and the British Antislavery World System

Humanitarian Governance and the British Antislavery World System
Author: Maeve Ryan
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 326
Release: 2022-04-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0300265603

How the suppression of the slave trade and the “disposal” of liberated Africans shaped the emergence of modern humanitarianism Between 1808 and 1867, the British navy’s Atlantic squadrons seized nearly two thousand slave ships, “re‑capturing” almost two hundred thousand enslaved people and resettling them as liberated Africans across sites from Sierra Leone and Cape Colony to the West Indies, Brazil, Cuba, and beyond. In this wide-ranging study, Maeve Ryan explores the set of imperial experiments that took shape as British authorities sought to order and instrumentalise the liberated Africans, and examines the dual discourses of compassion and control that evolved around a people expected to repay the debt of their salvation. Ryan traces the ideas that shaped “disposal” policies towards liberated Africans, and the forms of resistance and accommodation that characterized their responses. This book demonstrates the impact of interventionist experiments on the lives of the liberated people, on the evolution of a British antislavery “world system,” and on the emergence of modern understandings of refuge, asylum, and humanitarian governance.

Working in International Development and Humanitarian Assistance

Working in International Development and Humanitarian Assistance
Author: Maia Gedde
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 395
Release: 2015-03-27
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 113461327X

This is an indispensable career guide for everyone wanting to work in or already working in the international development and humanitarian emergencies sector. It provides a general introduction and insight into the sector, for those exploring it as a potential career, and offers students up-to-date advice when choosing a course, whether it’s at undergraduate or postgraduate level. Should they study International Development, or will Public Health, Environmental studies or Media get them closer to where they want to get? This book offers graduates or career changers who are new to the sector an understanding of what skills and experience will make them stand out above the competition and get that job. It enables those already working in the sector to gain a long term view of where they want to go and how they might structure their professional development to gain the skills and competencies necessary to get their career on to an upward trajectory. This book draws heavily on insiders’ advice, case studies and top tips, to provide the reader with various perspectives and insights. How do you become a country director for an international NGO? How can one become a gender mainstreaming expert? What can you do to get in to consultancy? Career trajectories, Career clinics Q&A boxes and the personal planner in the appendix will help you get to where you want to go. It also gives a detailed account of the myriad of careers and specialism available within the sector and methodologically describes the pros and cons of each option. So if you are not sure where you want to go with your career, you will be after you have read this book. Whether it’s Programme Management, becoming an Environmental Advisor, or an Acadmic this book will give you an insight into what the job entails and how you can get in to it. It will be an invaluable guide to all readers, irrespective of their country of origin, who are interested in the sector.

Humanitarianism in Question

Humanitarianism in Question
Author: Michael Barnett
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2012-05-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0801465087

Years of tremendous growth in response to complex emergencies have left a mark on the humanitarian sector. Various matters that once seemed settled are now subjects of intense debate. What is humanitarianism? Is it limited to the provision of relief to victims of conflict, or does it include broader objectives such as human rights, democracy promotion, development, and peacebuilding? For much of the last century, the principles of humanitarianism were guided by neutrality, impartiality, and independence. More recently, some humanitarian organizations have begun to relax these tenets. The recognition that humanitarian action can lead to negative consequences has forced humanitarian organizations to measure their effectiveness, to reflect on their ethical positions, and to consider not only the values that motivate their actions but also the consequences of those actions. In the indispensable Humanitarianism in Question, Michael Barnett and Thomas G. Weiss bring together scholars from a variety of disciplines to address the humanitarian identity crisis, including humanitarianism's relationship to accountability, great powers, privatization and corporate philanthropy, warlords, and the ethical evaluations that inform life-and-death decision making during and after emergencies.

Aid in Danger

Aid in Danger
Author: Larissa Fast
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Total Pages: 336
Release: 2014-05-14
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0812246039

Humanitarian aid workers increasingly remain present in contexts of violence and are injured, kidnapped, and killed as a result. Since 9/11 and in response to these dangers, aid organizations have fortified themselves to shield their staff and programs from outside threats. In Aid in Danger, Larissa Fast critically examines the causes of violence against aid workers and the consequences of the approaches aid agencies use to protect themselves from attack. Based on more than a decade of research, Aid in Danger explores the assumptions underpinning existing explanations of and responses to violence against aid workers. According to Fast, most explanations of attacks locate the causes externally and maintain an image of aid workers as an exceptional category of civilians. The resulting approaches to security rely on separation and fortification and alienate aid workers from those in need, representing both a symptom and a cause of crisis in the humanitarian system. Missing from most analyses are the internal vulnerabilities, exemplified in the everyday decisions and ordinary human frailties and organizational mistakes that sometimes contribute to the conditions leading to violence. This oversight contributes to the normalization of danger in aid work and undermines the humanitarian ethos. As an alternative, Fast proposes a relational framework that captures both external threats and internal vulnerabilities. By uncovering overlooked causes of violence, Aid in Danger offers a unique perspective on the challenges of providing aid in perilous settings and on the prospects of reforming the system in service of core humanitarian values.

Health in Humanitarian Emergencies

Health in Humanitarian Emergencies
Author: David Townes
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 509
Release: 2018-05-31
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 1107062683

A comprehensive, best practices resource for public health and healthcare practitioners and students interested in humanitarian emergencies.

Making the World Safe

Making the World Safe
Author: Julia F. Irwin
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2013-03-28
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199990085

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.