Description
Book SynopsisWith some 50 million people living under duress and threatened by wars and disasters in 2012, the demand for relief worldwide has reached unprecedented levels. Humanitarianism is now a multi-billion dollar enterprise, and aid agencies are obliged to respond to a range of economic forces in order to stay in business .
Trade Review"Extremely well written and clear,
Humanitarian Business is an excellent introduction to modern humanitarianism."
Stephen Hopgood, School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London "Thomas G. Weiss exposes the increasingly competitive nature of the humanitarian world as well as the ways in which states and other actors seek to manipulate emergency relief. An essential analysis of the contemporary aid industry."
Jeff Crisp, Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees "Thomas G. Weiss has made an outstanding contribution to the understanding and policymaking of humanitarian action for more than twenty-five years. In this new book, he continues to do so by challenging international humanitarians and their government donors to think about their profession as a business."
Hugo Slim, Institute for Ethics, Law and Armed Conflict, University of OxfordTable of ContentsFigures vi
Abbreviations vii
About the Author ix
Foreword by Hugo Slim xi
Acknowledgments xv
Introduction 1
1 Responding to Humanitarian Demands 18
2 The Contemporary Landscape: Need and Greed 56
3 Coordination vs. Competition in an Unregulated Market 96
4 Market Distortions from Above and Below 123
5 The Push and Pull of Coming to the Rescue 143
6 What Next? 157
Notes 181
Suggested Reading 212
Index 218
