Description
Book SynopsisThrough detailed studies of two different orphan support organizations in Uganda, the author shows how many Ugandans view material forms of Catholic charity as deeply intertwined with their own ethics of care and exchange. She reassesses the generally assumed paradox of material aid as both promising independence and preventing it.
Trade Review"A fascinating and original book that unsettles preconceptions-and social science theories-about the evils of charity. Scherz convincingly shows how Ugandan nuns' practices of charity, which center not upon autonomy but on interdependence, are a better fit with the relational ethics of the region than are NGO workers' practices of development. This regional ethics of interdependence prescribes correct (and correctly flexible) relations between patron and client. In such a worldview charity is no insult and independence from others no laudable goal." (Claire Wendland, University of Wisconsin-Madison)"
