Above the fray : the Red Cross and the making of the humanitarian NGO sector

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. "We now take humanitarian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) such as the Red Cross or Oxfam for granted, but as sociologist Shai Dromi shows us, these social organizations are a relatively recent invention. In fact, when the Red Cross movement, which arose from the efforts of orthodox Calvinists, first began to advocate for impartial humanitarian work in the mid-1800s, it was met with incredulity, suspicion, and ethical objections. But within two decades the idea that humanitarian organizations are an absolute social necessity swept North Atlantic civil societies, giving rise to a growing humanitarian sector that spanned three continents and appealed to aristocrats, professionals, clergy, and working classes alike. The genesis of the humanitarian field from the religious convictions of its founders provides an exceptionally revealing historical case that demonstrates how abstract moral beliefs create new social institutions that, in turn, preserve and replicate them through history" -- Provided by publisher The humanitarian space -- Inter arma caritas: The cultural origins of humanitarian NGOs -- The Réveil and the founding of the Red Cross -- The spread of humanitarian culture across borders -- The spread of humanitarian logics into new domains -- Sans-frontiérisme and the rise of "new humanitarianism"--Reconsidering the culture of the humanitarian field