Above the Fray

The Red Cross and the Making of the Humanitarian NGO Sector

Shai M. Dromi

• Publisher: University of Chicago Press
• Year: 2020
• ISBN:
  9780226680385
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Sociology
• Index: Social Sciences

From Lake Chad to Iraq, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) provide relief around the globe, and their scope is growing every year. Policy makers and activists often assume that humanitarian aid is best provided by these organizations, which are generally seen as impartial and neutral. In Above the Fray, Shai M. Dromi investigates why the international community overwhelmingly trusts humanitarian NGOs by looking at the historical development of their culture. With a particular focus on the Red Cross, Dromi reveals that NGOs arose because of the efforts of orthodox Calvinists, demonstrating for the first time the origins of the unusual moral culture that has supported NGOs for the past 150 years.Drawing on archival research, Dromi traces the genesis of the Red Cross to a Calvinist movement working in mid-nineteenth-century Geneva. He shows how global humanitarian policies emerged from the Red Cross founding members' faith that an international volunteer program not beholden to the state was the only ethical way to provide relief to victims of armed conflict. By illustrating how Calvinism shaped the humanitarian field, Dromi argues for the key role belief systems play in establishing social fields and institutions. Ultimately, Dromi shows the immeasurable social good that NGOs have achieved, but also points to their limitations and suggests that alternative models of humanitarian relief need to be considered.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• CONTENTS
• Preface
• Introduction / The Humanitarian Space
• ONE / Inter Arma Caritas: The Cultural Origins of Humanitarian NGOs
• TWO / The Réveil and the Founding of the Red Cross
• THREE / The Spread of Humanitarian Culture Across Borders
• FOUR / The Spread of Humanitarian Logics into New Domains
• FIVE / Sans-Frontiérisme and the Rise of “New Humanitarianism”
• Conclusion / Reconsidering the Culture of the Humanitarian Field
• Acknowledgments
• Appendix: Sources and methodology
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Index