The Paradoxes of Aid Work

Abstract

Silke Roth provides us with a candid insight into the life-world of aid workers in humanitarian and development programmes. She connects their personal experiences to the contemporary context of neo-liberal societies and lays bare how the multi-layered and ethnicised hierarchies within "aidland"notwithstandig the good intentions -reproduce existing global privilege and inequalities. The book addresses (aspiring) aid workers and is both sobering and inspiring, encouraging aid workers to reconsider the boundaries of "aidland", and seek to break the cycles where global inequalities are being produced.' Dorothea Hilhorst, Wageningen University, The Netherlands 'This is a first rate book. Silke Roth has written the best description to date of contemporary aid workers. Her analysis is rigorous, evidence-based and rich with the testimony of aid workers of all kinds. She has described aid workers to themselves and to others with limpid clarity. At last we have a book on aid from a critical scholar that is accessible and constructive.' Hugo Slim, University of Oxford, UK 'It is people, both staff and volunteers, who deliver the missions of aid organisations. By exploring the biographies of those working in the sector this book offers insights into factors, and perceptions, of essential interest to practitioners and employers: staff equity, gender issues, career motivation, and the impact of conditions of service.' Jonathan Potter, Executive Director, People In Aid 'Silke Roth brilliantly analyzes the paradoxes of aid-work. She discusses how aid is structured through North-South inequalities and neoliberal agendas. Despite the commitment and passion of people who are engaged in such work, aid-work does not live up to its promises. A path-breaking book.' Bandana Purkayastha, University of Connecticut, USA 'This book is an important and wide-ranging contribution to the growing literature on international aid as a form of work. Drawing on research with professionals from both the Global South and North, the book impressively highlights what characterises this work, and how people stay involved despite its often challenging and sometimes dangerous nature.' Anne-Meike Fechter, University of Sussex, UK'The best book on the aid world as it is today brought to life through a series of life histories. Written with crystal clear clarity. Well researched and a great read. I will buy a copy for each of my team of tutors and I will recommend it to all of my students.'

Who Deserves Compassion? The Moral and Emotional Dilemmas of Volunteering in the ‘Refugee Crisis’

“…Focusing on dilemmas, we aim to explore the ground for the re-negotiation of established notions of deservingness. Through coping strategies that often characterise the emotional work of charity workers and volunteers when faced with moral and emotional ‘impasses’ (see Malkki, 2015; Roth, 2015), we maintain that the meaning itself of compassion also changes in the process of supporting the refugees. We will show in particular how moral and emotional dilemmas lead volunteers to re-evaluate two predominant discourses that have strongly shaped notions of deservingness during the ‘refugee crisis’.…”

“…Rather than being exceptions, moral dilemmas are constitutive moments in the articulation of the commitment to refugee support, and more generally humanitarian aid (Armbruster, 2019; Malkki, 2015; Roth, 2015). We showed that these quandaries produce a stronger focus on executing practical tasks and a distancing from the moment of judgement about the deservingness of the refugee beneficiaries.…”

“…As discussed by Malkki (2015) and Willemez (2002), in many cases workers and volunteers in international humanitarian organisations experience emotional challenges as a result of their difficult interactions with members of the recipient groups. To cope with these situations, they retreat into the volunteers’ group, motivating themselves through the effectiveness of their actions, and try to develop an ‘affective neutrality’ (Malkki, 2015: 68) in their relations with those they aim to support (see also Roth, 2015). These coping strategies resonate with those developed by the volunteers we interviewed, for instance around the lack of gratitude and the doubts about the genuineness of refugees’ needs.…”

Working for Change in India’s Civil Society

“…Roth (Roth, 2015a;Roth, 2015b) makes important distinctions between different categories of NGO workers however the focus here is on Hiresh as the organisation's director. Support employs three professional full time educated staff members who come from and understand the Dalit communities in which they work.…”

“…This is understood to meet the perceived needs of donors and funders (Tvedt, 1998;Mawdsley et al, 2005). There is now a significant body of literature that tracks and analyses neoliberal professionalization that shines a light on the ways in which NGO workers have been co-opted into the mainstream development and aid agenda (Laurie and Bondi, 2005;Baillie Smith and Jenkins, 2011;Roth, 2015b;Roth, 2012). Key themes and critiques that emerge within this literature focuses firstly on the mainstreaming or co-option of NGOs into the development agenda (Clark, 1997;Jenkins, 2008), or what Alvarez (1998) refers to as 'NGOization'.…”