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bryanmwaters98's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
malitza's review
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.75
A difficult read...but an important one
jackieprr's review against another edition
3.0
L'argomento è certamente interessante, ma il libro non posso dire mi sia piaciuto: l'ho trovato spesso banale, forse perchè a conoscenza diretta di alcune delle cose scritte e delle critiche fatte. Il capitolo finale, in cui per ogni lettera dell'alfabeto si tratta un tema, mi è sembrato inutile e senza criterio logico.
L'unico senso che gli dò e pregio che gli posso riconoscere (da qui le 3 stars) è il fatto di richiamare chi opera nell'umanitario ad interrogarsi in modo continuo sul senso e sul modo del proprio operato.
L'unico senso che gli dò e pregio che gli posso riconoscere (da qui le 3 stars) è il fatto di richiamare chi opera nell'umanitario ad interrogarsi in modo continuo sul senso e sul modo del proprio operato.
jules_pl's review
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.25
This book paints a very sad and depressive picture of humanitarian aid reality. It is informative and relatively easy to read and the author shows us not well known facts in regards to humanitarian crises that we’ve seen on TV.
The author critiques a lot of actions taken by INGOs, with some surprising snarky comments even (completely justified). However among all the criticism, it’s hard, especially for an outsider, to determine which actions would’ve been better. I understand that the main point of the book was to ask difficult questions, but I would’ve liked to see also some good examples in the end.
Overall I feel I learned a lot with this book and will definitely read more materials on the topic, especially those that are up to date.
The author critiques a lot of actions taken by INGOs, with some surprising snarky comments even (completely justified). However among all the criticism, it’s hard, especially for an outsider, to determine which actions would’ve been better. I understand that the main point of the book was to ask difficult questions, but I would’ve liked to see also some good examples in the end.
Overall I feel I learned a lot with this book and will definitely read more materials on the topic, especially those that are up to date.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Police brutality, Murder, and War
joycevdlans's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
5.0
perfectphlaws's review
5.0
I really enjoyed this book. Polman does not pull her punches. She's a journalist through and through and I'm not sure she could help herself from piling in as many "juicy" details as she could. So while I did take her perspective with a grain of salt, it was still a very shocking read.
The structure of the book worked well for me and I especially enjoyed the contract of the African experiences with that of Afghanistan. Its interesting to contemplate how different the attitudes toward aid is between these two environments.
I think this book achieved it goal, as I really did reevaluate my ideas about humanitarian aid. I'd recommend this book (as well as maybe a few others to balance it out...) to anyone going into this area or even to someone looking to further their knowledge about conflict in Africa. I think it would serve as a good introduction.
The structure of the book worked well for me and I especially enjoyed the contract of the African experiences with that of Afghanistan. Its interesting to contemplate how different the attitudes toward aid is between these two environments.
I think this book achieved it goal, as I really did reevaluate my ideas about humanitarian aid. I'd recommend this book (as well as maybe a few others to balance it out...) to anyone going into this area or even to someone looking to further their knowledge about conflict in Africa. I think it would serve as a good introduction.
dittesque's review against another edition
4.0
Érg indrukwekkend boek. Linda Polman laat aan de hand van vele voorbeelden zien hoe de doelstelling van de humanitaire organisaties om zich altijd en overal neutraal op te stellen en zo dus zowel daders als slachtoffers te helpen er voor gezorgd heeft dat hulp nu oa gebruikt wordt als middel in oorlogen, om rebellenlegers in vorm te houden, etc. Hongersnoden worden soms gecreeërd (door oogsten te verbranden) om hulporganisaties te lokken.
Daarnaast wordt duidelijk hoe de humanitaire sector eigenlijk verworden is tot een deel van de markteconomie, zonder dat bijvoorbeeld journalisten haar kritisch benaderen. Er is veel concurrentie tussen organisaties, maar er wordt niet of nauwelijks gecontroleerd hoe die organisaties hun werk doen en of het überhaupt bijdraagt aan een betere situaties voor slachtoffers (dit is namelijk zeer de vraag in gebieden waar het merendeel van de hulp naar het leger of naar rebellen gaan, waardoor de oorlog verlengd wordt).
Polman laat echt op heel confronterende wijze zien dat ontwikkelingshulp niet benaderd kan worden met een zwart/wit kijk op wat goed en slecht is. Ze roept dan ook op dat er veel kritischer gekeken wordt naar het werk van humanitaire organisaties.
Nogmaals, erg indrukwekkend.
Daarnaast wordt duidelijk hoe de humanitaire sector eigenlijk verworden is tot een deel van de markteconomie, zonder dat bijvoorbeeld journalisten haar kritisch benaderen. Er is veel concurrentie tussen organisaties, maar er wordt niet of nauwelijks gecontroleerd hoe die organisaties hun werk doen en of het überhaupt bijdraagt aan een betere situaties voor slachtoffers (dit is namelijk zeer de vraag in gebieden waar het merendeel van de hulp naar het leger of naar rebellen gaan, waardoor de oorlog verlengd wordt).
Polman laat echt op heel confronterende wijze zien dat ontwikkelingshulp niet benaderd kan worden met een zwart/wit kijk op wat goed en slecht is. Ze roept dan ook op dat er veel kritischer gekeken wordt naar het werk van humanitaire organisaties.
Nogmaals, erg indrukwekkend.