Demotic humanitarians: historical perspectives on the global reach of local initiatives, 1940–2017

Taithe, Bertrand

doi:10.1080/01436597.2019.1630815

Cited by 10 publications

(9 citation statements)

References 42 publications

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“…These relationships help to resist the "professionalizing drivers" found in the aid industry (Taithe, 2019(Taithe, , p. 1781. For example, AEC does not garner accountability through traditional reporting mechanisms but rather through relationships and personal trust (see also, Fechter, 2019;Taithe, 2019;Appe & Telch, 2020;McKay & Perez, 2019). Indeed, the AEC leaders prioritize what could be called "relational accountability" which is beyond formal reporting and managerial practices in aid exchanges (see Moncrieffe, 2011).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These relationships help to resist the “professionalizing drivers” found in the aid industry (Taithe, 2019, p. 1781). For example, AEC does not garner accountability through traditional reporting mechanisms but rather through relationships and personal trust (see also, Fechter, 2019; Taithe, 2019; Appe & Telch, 2020; McKay & Perez, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, this loses sight of what the fourth pillar and specifically here these small voluntary organizations offer to the individuals involved. It dismisses what has been observed as personal motives to help (Develtere & DeBruyn, 2009), means in which to form connections (Fechter, 2019;Fylkesnes, 2019) and engagement in everyday humanitarianism (Taithe, 2019). Fourth pillar aid actors disrupt "normal" participation in international causes as they tend to focus on "helping and giving" whereas the traditional development industry has generally limited modes of action to collecting and distributing money only (Develtere & DeBruyn, 2009, p. 8).…”

Section: A New Wave Of People In Development?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Today, this fourth pillar of aid, what Kinsbergen and Schulpen (2013) have called philanteral, is getting more attention though several scholars note the tensions, as those in the more established aid industry have been more likely “to ignore or minimize this phenomenon” (Develtere & DeBruyn, 2009, p. 4). While in the last 10–15 years researchers have made progress, “there is still much work to be done on what these [actors] actually represent to those who contribute to their existence” (Taithe, 2019, p. 1784). For example, Fechter and Schwittay (2019) have called for a more comprehensive understanding of “our conceptions of contemporary forms of aid and development” (1776).…”

Section: Development Aid Then and Nowmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Beyond the professionalized nongovernmental organization: Life‐history narratives of grassroots philanthropic leaders in Africa

Appe

2020

Nonprofit Mgmnt & Ldrshp

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This research examines everyday people as grassroots philanthropic leaders in development aid in Africa. The article balances two objectives. First is to provide a counter narrative to the broad frames that traditionally drive research on nonprofit organizations and development aid, which have tended to center more on the professionalized nongovernmental organization and traditional North-South aid models. Second, I situate grassroots philanthropic leaders within the broader landscape of people engaging in development aid. I use life-history narratives of leaders to illuminate the diminishing barriers to being a philanthropist, capture motivating and relational dimensions in grassroots philanthropic leadership, as well as provide evidence of African philanthropy and further engagement of diaspora through small voluntary organizations. The findings espouse the everyday, relational practices of grassroots philanthropic leaders in development aid but do not entirely divorce these leaders and their initiatives from the overarching goals of development.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: A New Wave Of People In Development?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Development Aid Then and Nowmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Beyond the professionalized nongovernmental organization: Life‐history narratives of grassroots philanthropic leaders in Africa

Appe

2020

Nonprofit Mgmnt & Ldrshp

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“…Our study of Mission France builds on this work on humanitarianism as a contested field of practice, and as a project whose specific local shape is always a configuration of concrete political, cultural, and organisational dynamics (Baughan 2012;Redfield 2013;Taithe 2019). By looking in-depth at the genealogy of Mission France, we move beyond the usual territory of studies of the 'French doctors' , MSF and MDM, given that most scholarly accounts focus on their overseas work (Taithe 2004;Vallaeys 2004;Redfield 2013).…”

Section: Mission France: a Contested Reterritorialization Of International Humanitarianismmentioning

confidence: 99%

Domestic humanitarianism: the Mission France of Médecins Sans Frontières and Médecins du Monde

Hanrieder

Galesne

2021

Third World Quarterly

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What are the boundaries of humanitarianism? This question is controversially debated among humanitarian practitioners and scholars, given ever-changing spaces and temporalities of human suffering. This paper explores an understudied site of this controversy: the domestic humanitarian engagement of Médecins Sans Frontières and Médecins du Monde, two NGOs widely regarded as epitomes of liberal international humanitarianism. Their Mission France started in the 1980s to support vulnerable populations in France through medical aid, socio-legal support, and political activism. It has provoked fierce internal opposition ever since, in the name of an inherited vision of humanitarianism as impartial emergency aid. Drawing on organisational documents, archival sources and key informant interviews, we analyse how these conflicts gave rise to an unstable settlement around the diagnostic function of Mission France: Leaders aimed to make the assistance function of Mission France secondary to the advocacy function of drawing attention to health inequity, thus avoiding any long-term substitution for state services. However, the political strategizing demanded by this approach clashed with local volunteer preferences for immediate aid and claims to political neutrality. This conflict about the hierarchy of humanitarian values in the NGOs' home country sheds new light on the contentious politics of humanitarian witnessing and assistance.

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Citizen aid: grassroots interventions in development and humanitarianism

Fechter

Schwittay

2019

Third World Quarterly

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the introduction to this collection brings together, under the umbrella terms of citizen aid and grassroots humanitarianism, interdisciplinary research on small-scale, privately funded forms of aid and development. It notes the steady rise of these activities, including in the Global South as well as north, such as in the context of the recent European refugee crisis. It considers their position vis-à-vis more institutionalised forms of aid; methodological approaches and their challenges; and asks what political dimensions these initiatives may have. It outlines key themes arising from the contributions to the collection, including historical perspectives on 'demotic humanitarianism' , questions of legitimacy and their apparent lack of professionalisation, motivations of their founders, the role of personal connections, as well as the importance of digital media for brokerage and fundraising. Being mindful of its critiques and implicit power imbalances, it suggests that citizen aid deserves more systematic academic attention. Citizen aid as an 'unstable category' one reason why studies of these forms of aid are fragmented are the diverse terminologies which are deployed to describe them. despite this, we propose that they share some ARTICLE HISTORY

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Demotic humanitarians: historical perspectives on the global reach of local initiatives, 1940–2017

Cited by 10 publications

References 42 publications

Beyond the professionalized nongovernmental organization: Life‐history narratives of grassroots philanthropic leaders in Africa

Beyond the professionalized nongovernmental organization: Life‐history narratives of grassroots philanthropic leaders in Africa

Domestic humanitarianism: the Mission France of Médecins Sans Frontières and Médecins du Monde

Citizen aid: grassroots interventions in development and humanitarianism

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