Merchants of Morality

Internal, Interactive, and Institutional Factors: A Unified Framework for Understanding International Nongovernmental Organizations

“…For example, researchers note that INGOs compete with one anothernot only in their attempts to pressure states, but also in their scramble to corner resources offered by states, intergovernmental organizations, and other donors (Cooley and Ron 2002). Nongovernmental organizations operate in a "harsh, Darwinian marketplace where legions of desperate groups vie for scarce attention, sympathy, and money" (Bob 2002). Scholars have depicted this marketplace as a social network in which INGOs vary in terms of their connectedness to key actors and gatekeepers (Carpenter 2007(Carpenter , 2014Murdie 2014).…”

Rooted transnational publics: Integrating foreign ties and civic activism

“…As the studies cited in our introductory paragraphs indicate, many researchers in the social movements field are concerned that strong transnational ties are weakening the ties of civic organizations to their own societies whether through a shift of orientation towards external donors, a de-radicalizing professionalization, or both (Rucht, 1999;Bob, 2002Bob, , 2005Mendelson & Glenn, 2002).…”

“…The danger is that organizations with transnational links will become more oriented to their foreign contacts, partners, or donors than to their members or other domestic organizations. In that view, transnationalization uproots civil society organizations from their base in popular participation and separates the professionalized movement elite from the grassroots (Mendelson & Glenn, 2002;Bob, 2002Bob, , 2005.…”

“…Citing examples of strong transnational ties resulting in "isolation and even ghettoization" of NGOs (p. 13), they argue that increased dependence on external donors removes the incentives to be responsive to domestic constituents, turns domestic NGOs against each other in their fight for scarce transnational resources, and diverts the attention of the NGOs away from the most pressing local problems (p. 14, p. 18). Similarly, Bob (2002) argues that in their fight for global attention and support local movements might feel pressed to give up their original goals. He suggests that the least participatory local movements might have the biggest competitive advantage in the fight for external support (Bob, 2002: 44).…”

An archaeology of borders: qualitative political theory as a tool in addressing moral distance

“…That is in part a function of how instances of need are selected for specific coverage emphasis. Factors that can come into play include the `emergency' character of the need, the skill with which it is publicized by NGOs and other advocates, and some calculations of short-term political costs and benefits by officials in intervening or aiding states (Mermin 1997;Bob 2002). Thus, while the response to intensive media coverage of a famine or other episode of desperate can help to demonstrate the power of one type of narrative or portrayal to promote transfers, the media `crisis response' model would seem inappropriate as the sole or primary means of providing information aimed at setting appropriate moral boundaries.…”