Saving the world? : Western volunteers and the rise of the humanitarian-development complex / Agnieszka Sobocinska.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sobocinska, Agnieszka, author.

Series:

Global and international history.

Global and international history

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Humanitarian assistance--Developing countries--History.

Humanitarian assistance.

Economic assistance--History.

Economic assistance.

Voluntarism--Developing countries--History.

Voluntarism.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 318 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Place of Publication:

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2021.

Summary:

From the 1950s, tens of thousands of well-meaning Westerners left their homes to volunteer in distant corners of the globe. Aflame with optimism, they set out to save the world, but their actions were invariably intertwined with decolonization, globalization and the Cold War. Closely exploring British, American and Australian programs, Agnieszka Sobocinska situates Western volunteers at the heart of the 'humanitarian-development complex'. This nexus of governments, NGOs, private corporations and public opinion encouraged continuous and accelerating intervention in the Global South from the 1950s. Volunteers attracted a great deal of support in their home countries. But critics across the Global South protested that volunteers put an attractive face on neocolonial power, and extended the logic of intervention embedded in the global system of international development. Saving the World? brings together a wide range of sources to construct a rich narrative of the meeting between Global North and Global South.

Contents:

Cover

Half-title page

Series page

Title page

Copyright page

Contents

List of Figures

Acknowledgments

List of Abbreviations

Introduction Western Volunteers and the Rise of the Humanitarian-Development Complex

Part I Intentions

1 An Idea for All Seasons

2 Conquering the Globe

3 Buying into the Humanitarian-Development Complex

4 Sentimental Radicals and Adventurers

Part II Images

5 The Publicity Machine

6 The View from the Other Side

Part III Experiences

7 A Little Colony

8 The Intimacy of the Humanitarian-Development Complex

9 Resistance

10 To Hell with Good Intentions

Bibliography

Index.

Notes:

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 11 Jun 2021).

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

1-108-80012-2

1-108-80570-1

1-108-78432-1

OCLC:

1257410061