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Books > Social sciences > Sociology, social studies > Social work > Aid & relief programmes
This timely work presents cutting-edge analysis of the problems of U.S. foreign assistance programs - why these problems have not been solved in the past, and how they might be solved in the future. The book focuses primarily on U.S. foreign assistance and foreign policy as they apply to nation building, governance, and democratization. The expert contributors examine issues currently in play, and also trace the history and evolution of many of these problems over the years. They address policy concerns as well as management and organizational factors as they affect programs and policies. "Foreign Aid and Foreign Policy" includes several chapter-length case studies (on Iraq, Pakistan, Ghana, Haiti, and various countries in Eastern Europe and Africa), but the bulk of the book presents broad coverage of general topics such as foreign aid and security, NGOs and foreign aid, capacity building, and building democracy abroad. Each chapter offers recommendations on how to improve the U.S. system of aid in the context of foreign policy.
Every year the Administration and the Congress battle stubbornly and often bitterly over appropriations for foreign aid. Clearly much more is at stake than a difference of opinion over a small fraction of the annual budget: the tug-of-war stems from clashes of basic political philosophies, divergent approaches to one of the most important elements of our foreign policy, and inherent conflicts among various domestic power blocs. In his book, which adds a much-needed dimension to the discussion and analysis of United States foreign policy, O'Leary reveals the many complex factors that go into the making of American foreign aid policy. While placing the emphasis on the political system as a whole--its components, the relative power of actors in the system, and the manner in which they interact to create policy--the author presents a detailed and enlightening picture of the attitudes of the general public, the political parties, the pressure groups, and Congress itself to the issue of foreign aid. Basing his work on poll data, press comment, Congressional and Executive documents, Congressional roll-call votes, and interviews with congressmen, their assistants, foreign aid officials, and lobbyists, O'Leary makes clear how the workings of the American political system affect our foreign aid policy and programs. Originally published in 1967, it remains useful for all courses dealing with our foreign relations, Congress, or the specifics of the operation of our government. "Michael Kent O'Leary" is a professor of political science at the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University. He has held a research fellowship at the Brookings Institution and has taught at Princeton and at Dartmouth College, where he was also an assistant to the director of the Public Affairs Center. He is the co-author of "Congress in Crisis: Politics and Congressional Reform" and has edited and contributed to "Congressional Reorganization: Problems and Prospects" and "European Views of America: Problems of Communication in the Atlantic World."
This timely work presents cutting-edge analysis of the problems of U.S. foreign assistance programs - why these problems have not been solved in the past, and how they might be solved in the future. The book focuses primarily on U.S. foreign assistance and foreign policy as they apply to nation building, governance, and democratization. The expert contributors examine issues currently in play, and also trace the history and evolution of many of these problems over the years. They address policy concerns as well as management and organizational factors as they affect programs and policies. "Foreign Aid and Foreign Policy" includes several chapter-length case studies (on Iraq, Pakistan, Ghana, Haiti, and various countries in Eastern Europe and Africa), but the bulk of the book presents broad coverage of general topics such as foreign aid and security, NGOs and foreign aid, capacity building, and building democracy abroad. Each chapter offers recommendations on how to improve the U.S. system of aid in the context of foreign policy.
How do non-governmental humanitarian aid organizations initiate, terminate and extend their project activities? Humanitarian aid organizations regularly face difficult decisions about life and death in a context of serious time constraints which force them daily to select whom to help and whom not to help. Liesbet Heyse focuses on how humanitarian aid organizations make these decisions and provides an inside view of the decision making processes. Two NGO case studies are used as illustration - Medecins sans Frontieres (MSF) and Acting with Churches Together (ACT) - both of which operate in an international network and represent specific types of NGOs often found in the community. This book opens up the black box of NGO operations, provides an empirical account of organizational decision making and combines insights of organization theory and organizational decision making theory.
The field of humanitarianism is characterised by profound uncertainty, by a constant need to respond to the unpredictable, and by concepts and practices that often defy simple or straightforward explanation. Humanitarians often find themselves not just engaged in the pursuit of effective action, but also in a quest for meaning. That is the starting point for this book. Humanitarian action has in recent years confronted geopolitical challenges that have upended much of its conventional modus operandi and presented threats to its foundational assumptions and legal frameworks. The critical interrogation of the purpose, practice and future of humanitarian action has yielded a rich new field of enquiry, humanitarian studies, and many thoughtful books, articles and reports. So, the question arose as to the most useful way to provide a critical overview that might serve to bring some definitional clarity as well as analytical rigor to the waves of critique and shifting sands of humanitarian action. Humanitarianism: A Dictionary of Concepts provides an authoritative analysis that attempts to rethink, rather than merely problematize or define the issues at stake in contemporary humanitarian debates. It is an important moment to do so. Just about every tenet of humanitarianism is currently open to question as never before.
This book aims at uncovering the politics behind the provision of US foreign aid to Pakistan during three distinctive periods: the Cold War, the post-Cold War and the "war on terror". Focusing on a comprehensive analysis of aid allocation and delivery mechanisms, this book uncovers the primary factors behind historical as well as contemporary US aid to Pakistan so far not thoroughly and empirically studied, especially in the post-2001 period of the "war on terror". Furthermore, based on findings that have emerged from interviews with over 200 respondents, including government officials, representatives of donor aid agencies, the private sector, civil society organizations and primary beneficiaries of US-funded projects, this book offers significant insights to researchers, policy-makers and practitioners interested in the discipline of aid and development effectiveness. Making use of both quantitative and qualitative data and based on extensive fieldwork and primary data, this book fills a significant gap in the empirical analysis of US aid to Pakistan. As such, it will be of great interest to students and scholars of Asian and US politics, as well as to those who have teaching and research interests in disciplines such as international relations, history, strategic studies, international political economy and development studies.
This book brings together for the first time in a single volume a complete survey of the theoretical foundations of economic aid policies and a critical analysis of aid programs and practices. The book focuses on the contributions of familiar economic growth models and other economic and social theories of development to foreign aid practices, and provides a broad and penetrating overview of the economics of foreign aid. At the macroanalytical level, the author investigates the savings constraint and the foreign exchange constraint approaches and the models employed for determining the quantity of external capital required for achieving growth goals under varying economic conditions in the recipient economies. The author examines other approaches to aid requirements (including the capital absorptive approach), analyzes debt service capacity, and reviews various debt cycle models. The nature and significance of indicators of economic performance are investigated, and both theoretical and practical policy issues relating to the employment of aid as a means of influencing domestic policies are analyzed. In his final chapter, the author applies his theoretical conclusions to the formulation of an integrated approach to foreign aid, encompassing the major foreign assistance problems faced today. A clear and comprehensive text for every student of development economics, as well as the most thorough reference of its kind for professional economists, the book, a volume in the Aldine Treatises in Modem Economics series, will be useful to all who are concerned with the analysis, development, and execution of aid programs. "Raymond F. Mikesell" is professor emeritus of economics at the University of Oregon. He has been consultant to various branches of the government, including the Agency for International Development, the Treasury Department, the Department of State, Congress, and the President, as well as to the Inter-American Development Bank, the Pan American Union, and the World Bank.
This book explores the vital role of faith-based organizations (FBOs) in compensating for the market's and government's inability to provide vital services. Its key theoretical contribution is the notion that poverty is the result of a triadic failure-when markets, government, and civil society become dysfunctional at the same time. Using data on Catholic missionaries' development work, this study presents the various ways by which FBOs mitigate market and government failures in healthcare, education, and social services, and in the process build and strengthen civil society. This study has two main objectives. First, it aims to present an overview of missionaries' development work, evaluating the socioeconomic significance of their faith-based development work. In addition, various comparative advantages and disadvantages have been imputed to FBOs in the religion-development literature, and we assess to what extent missionaries actually exhibit these posited qualities in practice. Second, the groundwork is laid for future religion-development scholars by presenting a theoretical framework and a method for evaluating the role and contributions of FBOs in the larger community. This is an important investigation of contemporary worldwide Christianity and its relationship with development. As such, it will interest scholars of religious studies and missiology, as well as development economics, public service and the political economy.
This is a comprehensive analysis of the economics of international aid that provides a systematic framework for understanding, planning, and executing aid programs. Though much has been written on different aspects of international aid, this book was the first to synthesize information on all facets of aid and to investigate the consequences, for both donor and recipient nations, of the transfer of public resources in aid programs. The authors first present the history of aid, discuss the principles that govern aid as practiced by the United States, the United Kingdom, Russia, China, the United Nations, and other donors, and then provide a broad theoretical structure in which to discuss particular questions taken up in subsequent chapters. The book systematically covers all aspects of the aid relationship, and in addition to broad coverage of aid programs, analyzes details of the aid relationship to discern the function of the different variables of aid. In one coherent volume, "International Aid" outlines sound theoretical bases for discussion of aid programs, provides valuable insights into contemporary practices, and offers far-reaching suggestions on the future of aid programs. On first publication in the mid-1960s, in the midst of the Cold War, this book had considerable influence and its interest outlasts its parochial times as one of the first to discuss the effects of aid on both donor and recipient countries. "I.M.D. Little," born in 1918, was a fellow of Nuffield College, Oxford. Trained as a philosopher, he became an economist who paved the way for the rise of social choice theory with his 1950 book, "A Critique of Welfare Economics." He subsequently moved on to development economics. "J. M. Clifford" was a staff member of the British Overseas Development Institute. "Osvaldo Feinstein" is a consultant with the World Bank Institute, and was previously manager, Partnerships and Knowledge Management, in the Operations Evaluation Department at the World Bank, and has published widely on evaluation and development issues.
Foreign aid has increasingly become subject to political conditionality. In the 1980s some institutions made aid dependent upon the recipient countries' economic policy reforms. Market liberalisation was the primary instrument and objective. In the 1990s such conditionality was brought one step further; aid was now linked to political reforms, affecting recipient countries' governing systems, requiring democracy, human rights and 'good governance'. This volume looks at these developments and considers the conditionality policies of several European aid donors. Such policies are also considered from recipient perspectives, both from the Third World and Russia, and the issue is also considered from a historical perspective.
Discover a modern approach to understanding threats and hazards that are more complex, costly, and devastating than ever before. Agencies around the world rely on geographic information systems (GIS) every day to plan for and mitigate complicated threats and hazards and coordinate emergency response and recovery efforts. Location intelligence provides the kind of deep, real-time data insights needed for managers, directors, and other decision-makers to analyze risk, gain situational awareness, and manage tomorrow's emergencies. Dealing with Disasters: GIS for Emergency Management explores a collection of real-life case studies about emergency management agencies successfully using GIS for real and potential hazards. Chapters are laid out to explore three primary areas of disaster management: Preparedness: To effectively reduce risks, emergency management professionals must incorporate real-time data, big data, and other critical data feeds into their analysis. Learn how organizations spanning from Arizona to Taiwan use data-driven insights to effectively prepare for worst-case scenarios. Response: Emergency management professionals must become more agile and informed at all points during response efforts. Find out how the US National Park Service, the Puerto Rico Emergency Operations Center, and others have successfully responded to growing threats that require agility and effective communication to save lives and property. Recovery: Recovery efforts can take years, and it's critical to avoid missteps that delay progress. See how tools like drones help refugees; imagery helps insurance companies; and maps help post-tornado efforts while aiding in prioritizing work and delivering on every recovery dollar invested in a community. Each of the three themed parts also includes a "how to get started" section that provides ideas, strategies, tools, and actions to help jump-start your own use of GIS for emergency management, and an index organized by disaster type allows you to quickly learn or refresh yourself on GIS implementation. A collection of online resources, including additional stories, videos, new ideas and concepts, and downloadable tools and content, complements this book. Use Dealing with Disasters: GIS for Emergency Management as a guide for strategizing against and surviving the emergencies that befall communities. Introduction by Martin O'Malley, former governor of Maryland, former mayor of Baltimore, and author of Smarter Government: How to Govern for Results in the Information Age (Esri Press, 2019).
In Minding Spirituality, Randall Sorenson, a clinical psychoanalyst, "invites us to take an interest in our patients' spirituality that is respectful but not diffident, curious but not reductionistic, welcoming but not indoctrinating." Out of this invitation emerges a fascinating and broadening investigation of how contemporary psychoanalysis can "mind" spirituality in the threefold sense of being bothered by it, of attending to it, and of cultivating it. Both the questions Sorenson asks, and the answers he begins to formulate, reflect progressive changes in the psychoanalytic understanding of spirituality. Sorenson begins by quantitatively analyzing 75 years of journal literature and documenting how psychoanalytic approaches to religious and spiritual experiences have evolved far beyond the "wholesale pathologizing of religion" prevalent during Freud's lifetime. Then, in successive chapters, he explores and illustrates the kind of clinical technique appropriate to the modern treatment of religious issues. And the issue of technique is consequential in more than one way -- Sorenson presents evidence that how analysts work clinically has a greater impact on their patients' spirituality than the patients' own parents have. Sorenson brings an array of disciplinary perspectives to bear in examining the multiple relationships among psychoanalysis, religion, and spirituality. Empirical analysis, psychoanalytic history, sociology of religion, comparative theory, and sustained clinical interpretation all enter into his effort to open a dialogue that is clinically relevant. Turning traditional critiques of psychoanalytic training on their head, he argues that psychoanalytic education has much to learn from models of contemporary theological education. Beautifully crafted and engagingly written, Minding Spirituality not only invites interdisciplinary dialogue but, via Sorenson's wide-ranging and passionately open-minded scholarship, exemplifies it.
Famine is preventable. The persistence of famine reflects political failings by African governments, western donors and international relief agencies. Can Africa avoid famine? When freedom from famine is a basic right or a political imperative, famine is prevented. Case studies demonstrate such successes but they are not often acknowledged or repeated. Who is responsible for the failures? African governments, western donors and international relief agencies all contribute to the problem. What is the role of international relief agencies? Relief has helped to fuel war andundermine democratic accountability. What is the way forward? Progress lies in bringing the fight against famine into democratic politics, and calling to account those guilty of creating famine. Published in association with the International African Institute North America: Indiana U Press
Africa is poor. If we send it money it will be less poor. It seems perfectly logical, doesn't it? Millions of people in the rich world, moved by images on television and appalled by the miserable conditions endured by so many in other countries, have joined campaigns to persuade their governments to double aid to Africa and help put an end to such shameful inequality. It seems simple. But it isn't. In this book, Jonathan Glennie argues that, along with its many benefits, government aid to Africa has often meant more poverty, more hungry people, worse basic services and damage to already precarious democratic institutions. Moreover, calls for more aid are drowning out pressure for action that would really make a difference for Africa's poor. Rather than doubling aid to Africa, it is time to reduce aid dependency. Through an honest assessment of both the positive and negative consequences of aid, this book will show you why.
Natural disasters have long been seen as naturally generated events, but as scientific, technological, and social knowledge of disasters has become more sophisticated, the part that people and systems play in disaster events has become more apparent. Production of Disaster and Recovery in Post-Earthquake Haiti demonstrates how social processes impact disasters as they unfold, through the distribution of power and resources, the use of discourses and images of disaster, and the economic and social systems and relations which underlie affected communities. The authors show how these processes played out in post-earthquake Haiti to set in motion the mechanics of the disaster industrial complex to (re)produce disasters and recovery rather than bring sustainable change. The book reveals that disaster and recovery rhetoric helped create fertile conditions for neoliberal disaster governance, militarized and digital humanitarianism, non-profiteering, and disaster opportunism to flourish while further disenfranchising marginalized populations. However, the Haiti earthquake, as is the case with all disaster sites, was ripe with mutual aid, community building, and collective action, all of which further local resilience. The authors seek to re-construct dominant discourses, policies, and practices to advance equitable, participatory partnerships with local community actors and propose a praxis for a people's recovery as an action-oriented framework for resisting the transnational disaster industrial machinery. The authors argue for new synergies in policymaking and program development that can respond to emergencies and plan for true long-term, sustainable development after disasters that focuses as much on humans and the natural world as it does on economic progress. Production of Disaster and Recovery in Post-Earthquake Haiti will be of great interest to students and scholars of disaster studies, humanitarian studies, development studies, Haitian studies, geography and environmental studies, as well as to non-governmental organizations, humanitarians, and policymakers.
This inspiring book looks at the theory and practice of China's foreign aid in Africa, especially in the area of healthcare in Uganda. It provides insights into how recipient countries and regions are selected, and describes in detail how the men and women working in the frontlines deliver aid. Information from past research, participant observations, interviews and other fieldwork are brought together to form a comprehensive picture of how Chinese development aid for health to Uganda has evolved over three decades, how it is carried out now, and the significance of such milestones as the building of the China-Uganda Friendship Hospital. The author also compares and contrasts China's foreign aid with that from other countries.
A heroic doctor's unflinchingly honest and visceral tale of impossible choices in emergency medicine. 'A brilliant insight into the forgotten heroes at the sharp end of humanitarian emergencies.' Jon Snow, Channel 4 News This is a story of tireless hard work and astonishing bravery. Tony Redmond has deployed to wars, refugee crises, air crashes, earthquakes, typhoons, volcanoes, and disease outbreaks for over thirty years. Featuring tales of hope and redemption, as well as untold suffering and mismanagement, this raw, honest account could only have been written by someone who has for decades performed incredible feats of altruism. Frontline takes the reader from the wards of Manchester's Nightingale hospital to Kosovo, from Sierra Leone's Ebola outbreak to Lockerbie, and from Haiti to the Philippines. We find its author risking life and limb to help those affected by events beyond their control. But while humanitarian work and medicine require an innate goodness, not all those involved have benign motives. And saving lives requires difficult choices: between the desire to relieve suffering and the need to weigh up the context. Too often medical aid is found wanting, doing more harm than good. How are life-or-death choices made in the heat of the moment? What are the consequences of your action, or inaction? Is it better at times to do nothing? How do you live with yourself if you want to help but can't? This is a frank account of the personal toll - physical, mental and social - emergency medicine levies on those who choose to do it. But ultimately, Frontline offers a tale of optimism, persistence and triumph over adversity, speaking to the resilience and fortitude of those who help and those whose lives they save.
International intervention in internal wars has gained rhetorical legitimacy in the post-cold war period, but in practice it has remained problematic. Response to these conflicts has remained mainly diplomatic and military - and belated. Is there anything international actors can do to prevent, or at least ameliorate, such conflicts? Are conflict-prevention measures already being attempted, and sometimes succeeding so well that we are unaware of their effectiveness? If so, what can we learn from them? In this book, Robert J. Muscat, a veteran international development expert who has worked in South America, South and Southeast Asia, East Africa, and the Balkans, attempts to answer these questions. Drawing on the work of others as well as his own extensive experience, he reviews the accrued insights into the causes of internal conflict. He examines nine cases in which the work of development agencies exacerbated or ameliorated the root causes of conflict. This permits some generalizations about the efficacy or deleterious effects of development programs - and of their futility when the conflict-prevention dimension of international assistance efforts is ignored.
International intervention in internal wars has gained rhetorical legitimacy in the post-cold war period, but in practice it has remained problematic. Response to these conflicts has remained mainly diplomatic and military - and belated. Is there anything international actors can do to prevent, or at least ameliorate, such conflicts? Are conflict-prevention measures already being attempted, and sometimes succeeding so well that we are unaware of their effectiveness? If so, what can we learn from them? In this book, Robert J. Muscat, a veteran international development expert who has worked in South America, South and Southeast Asia, East Africa, and the Balkans, attempts to answer these questions. Drawing on the work of others as well as his own extensive experience, he reviews the accrued insights into the causes of internal conflict. He examines nine cases in which the work of development agencies exacerbated or ameliorated the root causes of conflict. This permits some generalizations about the efficacy or deleterious effects of development programs - and of their futility when the conflict-prevention dimension of international assistance efforts is ignored.
Worldwide, the number of poor people increased during the past
decade, despite technological improvements, more open trade, and
improved policy frameworks in developing countries. Regional
conflicts, adverse shifts in terms of trade, and marginalization of
poor countries in the new global economy explain this outcome. This
highlights the need to reform development assistance and improve
its effectiveness.
Although morbidity among HIV/AIDS victims has decreased, the rate of new infections has remained steady for several years, substantially increasing the likelihood that this epidemic will continue and expand as a concern for social workers and their clientele, both of whom will need to be kept informed of the complex laws governing the milieu and the consequences of the disease. This is certainly the case with its spread throughout Asia and Africa. In this new work, the author draws upon statutes and court decisions from across the United States to provide a comprehensive and current picture of the many facets of HIV/AIDS law, including health policy; confidentiality; privacy; bioethics; the workplace; and criminal law and corrections. The volume of legal, medical, social science, and popular literature pertaining to HIV/AIDS that has been published over the past two decades is staggering. Hence, any addition to this collection needs some justification. What Dickson offers is different from what has preceded. Rather than one more contribution to the extensive legal or social science literature, this book attempts to integrate the perspectives from two fields: law and social work. The hope is that this will give social workers, practitioners, and teachers a better understanding of one of the major issues that may face them in their work with patients and clients every day. To date, although there is extensive HIV and AIDS-related literature in social work and the social sciences, it is primarily focused on social work practice issues. Where law has been introduced in these works, it often is narrow in focus and, given the rapid changes in the field, no longer up to date. This book does not purport to discuss all legal issues in all jurisdictions relating to HIV/AIDS, but rather to choose selectively those that have particular relevance for social work and social policy. The author has placed reliance on those published medical works cited with approval in the legal and social science literature. This is a seminal work on the relationship of law, medicine, and ethics.
Originally published in 1986, this book evaluated the review of the Australian Overseas Aid Program (the 1984 Jackson Report) and discusses the significance of Australia's contribution to overseas aid for the future. The book focusses on the overall context of the Jackson report; discusses the geographical distribution of aid proposed by the report and examines aid administration in its more specific bureaucratic context and with broader questions of community participation in developmental processes.
The individual and institutional capacities required for the
prevention and reduction of nutritional insecurity and hunger in
lesser-developed countries as the twenty-first century approaches
are identified in this book. Household nutritional "security" can
be defined as the successful |
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