Hierarchies and exclusion in humanitarianism

'This volume provides an honest and much-needed examination of the power dynamics and exclusionary practices within the humanitarian field. By unpacking the mechanisms that sustain hierarchies, it offers invaluable insights for anyone seeking to understand or reform humanitarianism, its governance, and real practices.'
Rodrigo Mena, Assistant Professor of Disasters and Humanitarian Studies, Erasmus University Rotterdam

'Behind the benign face of humanitarian organizations working hard to save lives and relieve suffering in crises, there is competition, hierarchy, and exclusion. Some humanitarian actors become powerful organizations, other weak ones, and some are not even noticed as "real" humanitarians. In this innovative volume, Clara Egger and her co-authors do a great job explaining why this is the case. Well documented, well studied and revealing, this edited volume is essential reading for anyone who wants to understand humanitarian action and its governance. It is not just a superb scholarly work, but also a call to action to improve the humanitarian system.' Dennis Dijkzeul, Professor in Conflict and Organization Research, Ruhr University Bochum

'Egger shows clearly that among humanitarian organizations are better and worse, those who have access to a great portion of resources and those who struggle to take at least a bit of humanitarian cake. Egger, combining her experience in governance and humanitarian studies, managed to create a cold, painfully objective picture of the humanitarian world susceptible to all known abuses. Egger's book helps us to understand another dimension of the hierarchy of global governance which is of particular importance having in mind that humanitarian aspects are at the first front of every crisis debate in the main governance bodies, including the Security Council of the United Nations.'
Patrycja Grzebyk, Associate Professor at the University of Warsaw

'This book provides conceptual tools and empirical insights needed for making sense of the decolonising of humanitarian aid. Going beyond the 'global-local' and 'North-South' dichotomies that define the localisation agenda, it serves as a vantage point for thinking more systematically about equality and inclusion in the humanitarian ecosystem.'
Kristoffer Lid©n, Senior Researcher at PRIO and the Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies

CHOICE Recommended: Advanced undergraduates through faculty; professionals.
'This edited volume, which brings together scholars primarily specializing in sociology and international relations, analyzes the mechanisms by which hierarchies of power are maintained between and within humanitarian organizations. Most of these essays consider how humanitarian organizations constitute a field with rules of inclusion and exclusion, drawing from Bourdieu's social theories. Michal Barnett's contribution is an especially useful consideration of humanitarian organizations as an exclusive club, whose members (especially the handful of dominant NGOs) use their cultural, economic, and symbolic capital to keep access to resources to themselves and block competitors from challenging their position... this book deserves a wide readership among scholars engaged in research on humanitarianism, past and present.'
--J. M. Rich, Marywood University