One of the characteristics of Polish foreign aid is its focus on the 'transition experience' and civil society. This specific celebration of the 'Polish success story' contrasts sharply with public debates that frequently criticise the weaknesses of Polish civil society and the difficulties in state-non-state relations. The Polish Aid apparatus itself is not immune to these problems, often exhibiting antagonistic relations between NGOs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. By looking at the relations linking these stakeholders this text aims to analyse relations between the 'state' and 'civil society' in Poland. As the text demonstrates, complicated contemporary relations between NGOs and the State are first the outcome of the country's troubled history of civil society, and an inheritance of the Solidarity movement when the concept of civil society was built on the idea of opposition to the state. Second, the anti-state attitude characterising contemporary organisations was also fostered by foreign institutions, which supported the Solidarity movement in its efforts to overturn the socialist regime in Poland, and later in the 1990s, became the strongest proponents of civil society and NGOs. Finally, these preexisting historical conditions for the strong polarisation of NGOs and state institutions are now additionally reinforced by the 'professionalization' and 'institutionalisation' of NGOs. However, the uncritical promotion of 'Western standards' exhibited in the ideals of transparency and audit culture, rather than generating positive change only antagonises NGOs and state institutions. The ultimate effect of this process is that NGOs become more and more obsessed with bureaucratic modes of operating, and start to resemble state institutions. Effectively, NGOs risk losing their identity which is so strongly built on the non-governmental aspect of their work. Effectively, the perpetuation of the state/non-State opposition becomes a strategy which allows this separate identity to be maintained and NGOs status to remain unchallenged.
This article provides an insight into the world of Polish development workers operating in South Sudan. It shows that the conceptualisations of aid work in terms of a 'mission' , a unique job with a special, ethical goal, a difficult, risky operation requiring specific skills are not incidental. Instead, the point is made, that such ways of thinking about foreign aid and distant locations are strongly institutionalised sets of values and behavioural patterns, here defined as 'work in crisis'. This specific notion is shaped by aid organisations who actively promote this rhetoric firstly through producing 'truth' about the aid work and project locations, and secondly through governing lived realities of the aid workers. The 'work in crisis' rhetoric helps to draw people into a development movement as devoted and allegiant followers. It also enables the management of these employees who are the most crucial for the industry-project coordinators-but who are separated from the organisational headquarters and NGO management by thousands of miles. Finally, it assists in the promotion of foreign aid among wider audiences in donor societies. Le travail en situation de crise: gérer les fantasmes sur les étrangers lointains, gérer les travailleurs humanitaires RÉSUMÉ Cet article apporte une vision sur le monde de travailleurs humanitaires polonais qui interviennent au Soudan du Sud. Il démontre que les conceptualisations du travail humanitaire en matière de « mission », de travail unique en son genre avec un but spécial et éthique, une opération à risques, difficile, qui exige des compétences spécifiques, ne sont pas fortuites. Plutôt, l'argument présenté est que de telles manières de penser à propos de l'aide à l'étranger et dans des régions lointaines constituent un ensemble de valeurs de modes de pensées et de schémas comportementaux, définis ici en tant que « travail en situation de crise ». Cette notion particulière est déterminée par les organisations humanitaires qui promeuvent activement cette rhétorique, premièrement, en présentant « la vérité » au sujet du travail humanitaire et des emplacements du projet et deuxièmement en gouvernant les réalités vécues des travailleurs humanitaires. La rhétorique du « travail en situation de crise » aide à attirer les gens dans un mouvement de développement en tant qu'adeptes dévoués et loyaux. Elle permet aussi la gestion des employés qui sont essentiels
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