Overview

From Braille Without Borders and Unite for Sight, to Geekcorps and PeaceWorks, humanitarian groups are working worldwide largely in undeveloped countries to better the lives of the residents. Whether they are empowering people with schools for the blind, prosthetic limbs, the devices to understand and use technology, or the information to work for civil peace, the men and women of these agencies offer tremendous talent to their causes, great dedication and, sometimes, even risk their lives to complete their missions. Working in war or civil war zones, humanitarians with nonprofits, non-governmental agencies, and university-connected centers and foundations have been injured, kidnapped, or killed. Now terrorist events and war crimes are more and more often bringing these self-sacrificing workers into the national spotlight by media headlines. Their work is, doubtless, remarkable. And so too are the stories of how they developed - including the defining moments when their founders felt they could no longer stand by and do nothing. In this set of books, founders and top officials from humanitarian organizations established in the last 50 years spotlight how and why they began their organizations, what their greatest victories and challenges have been, and how they run the organizations, down to where they get their funding and how they spend it to grow the group and its efforts. Led by Chris E. Stout, named Humanitarian of the Year by the American Psychological Association, the contributors here come from across training disciplines including psychology, medicine, technology, science, politics, social work, and business. Stout, who has worked in Latin American terrorist zones, in Vietnam, and along the Amazon in Ecuador with Flying Doctors of America, has chosen to feature a sample of humanitarian groups across four primary areas - medicine, environment, education, and social justice. He also concentrates on what he calls guerilla humanitarians - those who step into unsafe or unhealthy conditions despite the dangers. There is also a concentration on those that have been very successful with on-the-ground-guerilla-innovations without a lot of bureaucracy or baloney. Above all, They are rebels with a cause whose actions speak louder than mere words, Stout explains. They have all felt a moral duty to serve as vectors of change. In addition to being psychologically insightful, these volumes hold invaluable practical information. Each offers an appendix with functional text and data, including contact info for the organizations listed per volume, as well as a mission statement, website, rating, and financial details.

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9780275997687

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Reviews

Chris Stout has given us a glimpse into the genius, motivation, toil, frustration, and success of founding-and sustaining-humanitarian organizations in today's complex world. From the best-known to the unknown, and from the practical to the political, Chris Stout goes to the source to learn how and why 40 of these organizations were formed, how war, disease, poverty, or simply neglect created the desperate needs they fill, how these organizations serve their constituents in locations that are almost always remote and dangerous, what works, and what doesn't. These are 40 different and separate organizations, each with a founder and leader with a different vision and managerial style, but they are all driven by one goal, and that is to serve disadvantaged populations with whom they have nothing in common but their humanity. -Harvey Langholtz, Professor, The College of William and Mary

There is a widespread assumption, as well as growing evidence, that social environments play a key role in individuals' willingness to accept the responsibilities of democratic citizenship and participate in civic life... This message is made with compelling force throughout the three volumes of The New Humanitarians: Inspiration, Innovations, and Blueprints for Visionaries, a collection of organizational profiles reflecting a diverse range of civic commitments.... Whereas many books published by psychologists are written by and designed for academics, The New Humanitarians includes the voices of people from many walks of life who collaborate in the service of specific causes. - PsycCRITIQUES This motivating set of three volumes--in the tradition of Greg Mortenson's Three Cups of Tea (2006), Harry Boyte's The Citizen Solution (2008), and other books about making a positive difference--gives what its subtitle promises: inspiration, innovation, and blueprints for changing the world. . . . for students of health care, economics, political science, history, sociology, peace studies, and women's studies, this is a useful visionary resource. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. - Choice

Author Information

Chris E. Stout, PsyD is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and Founding Director of the Center for Global Initiatives. He is also Clinical Professor in the College of Medicine at the University of Illinois, Chicago. He also holds an academic appointment in the Northwestern University Feinberg Medical School, and was a Visiting Professor at Rush University. He served as Non-Governmental Organization Special Representative to the United Nations, and was appointed to the World Economic Forum's Global Leaders of Tomorrow 2000, and was an Invited Faculty at the Annual Meeting in Davos. He was also invited by the Club de Madrid and Safe-Democracy to serve on the Madrid-11 Countering Terrorism Task Force. Stout is a Fellow of three divisions of the American Psychological Association and, in 2004, was the winner of the APA International Humanitarian Award. He was honored in 2006 as recipient of the Illinois Psychological Asociation's Humanitarian Award.

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