Amateurs without Borders: The Aspirations and Limits of Global Compassion

263 Pages·2021·1.702 MB·English

by  Allison Schnable

Amateurs without
Borders
the aspirations and limits
of global compassion
Allison Schnable
university of california press
Amateurs without Borders

Amateurs without
Borders
the aspirations and limits
of global compassion
Allison Schnable
university of california press
University of California Press
Oakland, California
© 2021 by Allison Schnable
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Schnable, Allison, 1981– author.
Title: Amateurs without borders : the aspirations and limits of global
compassion / Allison Schnable.
Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2021] |
Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: lccn 2020026932 (print) | lccn 2020026933 (ebook) |
isbn 9780520300941 (cloth) | isbn 9780520300958 (paperback) |
isbn 9780520972124 (epub)
Subjects: lcsh: Non-governmental organizations—History—20th
century. | Non-governmental organizations—History—21st century.
Classification: lcc jz4841 .s35 2021 (print) | lcc jz4841 (ebook) |
ddc 361.7/7—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020026932
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020026933
Manufactured in the United States of America
29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Contents
List of Illustrations vii
Acknowledgments ix
Introduction 1
1 Origin Stories 27
2 Who, What, Where? The Projects of Grassroots
International NGOs 47
3 Amateurs without Borders: A Role for Everyday Citizens
in Development Aid 76
4 Provide and Transform: Grassroots INGOs’ Models
of Aid 94
5 Resources, Relationships, and Accountability 116
6 Seen It with Their Own Eyes: Grassroots INGOs’
Discourse 141
7 Networks, Frames, Modes of Action: Roles for
Religion 157
Conclusion: Possibilities and Perils of Amateur Aid 176
Appendix 1: Note on Methods 193
Appendix 2: Codes Used in Content Analysis 201
Appendix 3: Grassroots International NGOs in
Website Sample 205
Notes 211
Bibliography 223
Index 239
Illustrations
FIGURE
1. New international aid organizations registered annually with
the IRS, 1970–2015 3
MAP
1. Top destination countries for grassroots INGOs and official
development assistance 53
TABLES
1. Case Study Organizations 29
2. Destination Regions 51
3. Destination Countries 51
4. Top 20 Recipients of Official Development Assistance
(Nonmilitary) in 2017 52
5. Project Sectors 57
6. Top Sectors for Official Development Assistance
(Nonmilitary) in 2017 60
[ vii ]
7. Roles for US Supporters 62
8. Partner Organizations 65
9. Status Designations of Aid Recipients 69
10. Qualitative Descriptions of Aid Recipients 71
11. Rationales 72
12. Frequencies of Codes for Rationales, Recipients, and Roles
for US Supporters by Aid Model 97
[ viii ] illustrations
Acknowledgments
This project had its beginnings in late-night conversations with
fellow Peace Corps volunteers under the Senegalese moon. But it
took shape thanks to the resources of an intellectual community
that I acknowledge here with gratitude.
I am grateful to have received the Lake Institute Dissertation
Fellowship and the Charlotte Newcombe Dissertation Fellowship,
which provided ample funding and time to carry out this research as
a PhD student. At Princeton University, the Sociology Department,
Center for the Study of Religion, Center for Arts and Cultural Policy
Studies, Fellowship of Woodrow Wilson Scholars, and Program
on International and Regional Studies also funded my research
and offered chances to present my work in progress; this book is
stronger for it. Thanks also to the Faculty Writing Groups at Indiana
University, led by Laura Plummer, for creating a congenial environ-
ment in which I could work on this manuscript.
The Center for the Study of Religion was my intellectual home
at Princeton, and I thank Director Emeritus Robert Wuthnow,
Associate Director Jenny Wiley Legath, and Center Manager Anita
Kline for cultivating such a remarkable intellectual environment
there. The smart and congenial fellows I encountered at CSR over
[ ix ]