FRINK Linked Data Fragments server

Matches in SemOpenAlex for { <https://semopenalex.org/work/W2323223156> ?p ?o ?g. }

• W2323223156 endingPage "230" @default.
• W2323223156 startingPage "228" @default.
• W2323223156 abstract "Reviewed by: Between Samaritans and States: The Political Ethics of Humanitarian INGOs by Jennifer C. Rubenstein Richard P. Hiskes (bio) Jennifer C. Rubenstein, Between Samaritans and States: The Political Ethics of Humanitarian INGOs (Oxford University Press, 2015), IBSN 9780199684106, 252 pages When issues of international humanitarian aid become political, they usually center upon whether and when states should intervene, and in what manner, either militarily, economically, or in another mode. But of course, by the time such issues rise to the level of international political awareness, usually a whole group of actors from outside the country is already fully engaged within it. These actors include a variety of international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs), most often those with humanitarian aid missions. Such international actors are the focus of Jennifer Rubenstein in this outstanding and very useful book. Rubenstein considers humanitarian organizations such as Oxfam or Doctors Without Borders, as “angelic good Samaritans, swashbuckling heroes, or ‘do-gooding machines,’ on the one hand, or as naïve miscreants ‘on the road to hell,’ or cold, narrowly self-interested, profit-driven corporations, on the other.”1 One characterization seems certain: that such organizations are nothing like actual states or governments. By asking a series of ontological and behavioral questions, Rubenstein reveals the essential “between-ness” of these organizations. As the title maintains, they are both/neither Samaritans or states, but a far more complex (and interesting) hybrid of political, economic, humanitarian and ethical forces. Furthermore, the difficulties INGOs face in pursuing their mandated missions constitute a tangled web of ethical, political, and economic conundrums. As a political theorist, Rubenstein sets out to explore these two ontological and ethical questions about humanitarian INGOs: what exactly are such organizations and what ethical boundaries circumscribe their behaviors? In the first two chapters Rubenstein interrogates the ontological status of INGOs, always comparing their real nature and behavior with publicly held misperceptions, and poses four questions, the first of which concerns different kind of humanitarian INGO actors, and how they are distinguished as unique political agents. In an extended and very revealing discussion. Rubenstein makes and defends three claims with regard to the inquiries above: INGOs are, in fact, engaged in governance even though they are obviously not governmental agencies; they are deeply submerged in politics in the sense that their work has extensive political consequences; and, compared to governments, INGOs are “second-best actors.” As such they must make several difficult ethical and political decisions about how best to proceed in carrying out their mission. I know of no other book that so thoroughly explores in such an engaging [End Page 228] manner the structure and behavior of organizations, many whose names we know, whose work we assumed is always valuable, and whose moral status no one could possibly assail. Clearly, these organizations are important actors in the world today; to read this book is to become uncomfortably aware of how much power they wield and how little we have heretofore consciously understood about them. This book performs an important service in revealing to us what is without question, a new international political reality. Rubenstein’s extended analysis makes this realization possible without getting bogged down in endless “realism and idealism” debates about the true structure of international politics. Like all political realities, this new one is chock full of new ethical dilemmas and choices. Chapters three through seven identify and delve deeply into the “map of humanitarian INGO political ethics.” Along the way, a host of theoretical and ethical issues arise both for Rubenstein’s argument and for the behavior and choices of the organizations she is studying. She corrals all these questions into four major issues: the “problem of spattered hands;” the “quandary of the second-best;” the “cost-effectiveness conundrum;” and the “moral motivation tradeoff.” Each issue is accorded a chapter, and the last chapter tries to bring the four maps together. Throughout this very theoretical and deeply engaged exploration a few important realizations crystalize. First, such an in depth study of what truly is a new set of political actors requires the full resources of an accomplished political theorist. Description is not enough; nor even is a comparative analysis of any INGO structure and..." @default.
• W2323223156 created "2016-06-24" @default.
• W2323223156 creator A5001116520 @default.
• W2323223156 date "2016-01-01" @default.
• W2323223156 modified "2023-10-17" @default.
• W2323223156 title "Between Samaritans and States: The Political Ethics of Humanitarian INGOs by Jennifer C. Rubenstein" @default.
• W2323223156 cites W2497954740 @default.
• W2323223156 doi "https://doi.org/10.1353/hrq.2016.0015" @default.
• W2323223156 hasPublicationYear "2016" @default.
• W2323223156 type Work @default.
• W2323223156 sameAs 2323223156 @default.
• W2323223156 citedByCount "1" @default.
• W2323223156 countsByYear W23232231562023 @default.
• W2323223156 crossrefType "journal-article" @default.
• W2323223156 hasAuthorship W2323223156A5001116520 @default.
• W2323223156 hasConcept C144024400 @default.
• W2323223156 hasConcept C169437150 @default.
• W2323223156 hasConcept C17744445 @default.
• W2323223156 hasConcept C199539241 @default.
• W2323223156 hasConcept C2778573023 @default.
• W2323223156 hasConcept C34355311 @default.
• W2323223156 hasConcept C521897407 @default.
• W2323223156 hasConcept C94625758 @default.
• W2323223156 hasConceptScore W2323223156C144024400 @default.
• W2323223156 hasConceptScore W2323223156C169437150 @default.
• W2323223156 hasConceptScore W2323223156C17744445 @default.
• W2323223156 hasConceptScore W2323223156C199539241 @default.
• W2323223156 hasConceptScore W2323223156C2778573023 @default.
• W2323223156 hasConceptScore W2323223156C34355311 @default.
• W2323223156 hasConceptScore W2323223156C521897407 @default.
• W2323223156 hasConceptScore W2323223156C94625758 @default.
• W2323223156 hasIssue "1" @default.
• W2323223156 hasLocation W23232231561 @default.
• W2323223156 hasOpenAccess W2323223156 @default.
• W2323223156 hasPrimaryLocation W23232231561 @default.
• W2323223156 hasRelatedWork W1920146364 @default.
• W2323223156 hasRelatedWork W2046650447 @default.
• W2323223156 hasRelatedWork W2148043409 @default.
• W2323223156 hasRelatedWork W2167242989 @default.
• W2323223156 hasRelatedWork W2198519482 @default.
• W2323223156 hasRelatedWork W2506758365 @default.
• W2323223156 hasRelatedWork W2748952813 @default.
• W2323223156 hasRelatedWork W2789440312 @default.
• W2323223156 hasRelatedWork W3181288357 @default.
• W2323223156 hasRelatedWork W4230013894 @default.
• W2323223156 hasVolume "38" @default.
• W2323223156 isParatext "false" @default.
• W2323223156 isRetracted "false" @default.
• W2323223156 magId "2323223156" @default.
• W2323223156 workType "article" @default.