The Rise of Small-Scale Development Organisations

This edited volume discusses the rise, positioning and role of small-scale, voluntary development organisations in the Global North. This book presents and reflects upon unique data and analyses of a growing global community of researchers involved in this field of study located in a diverse set of countries in the Global North and South. This book presents a multi-cited perspective on this alternative development actor. The first part of the book starts from a northern perspective and from an analysis of how and why citizens actively engage in the field of international development. Starting from this understanding of this particular development actor, the second part will delve into the role of these actors in the Global South, particularly related to topics such as partnerships, embeddedness, legitimacy, accountability, exit strategies, sustainability and solidarity, all themes central to debates in the field of development. Through examples from different countries in the Global South, part two explores these themes from different standpoints and thus also provides the reader with thick descriptions.

Hanne Haaland is an associate professor at the Department of Global Development and Planning at the University of Agder, Norway. Among her research interests are citizen initiatives for global solidarity in different contexts, humanitarian aid and civic engagement as well as the use of technology in development and emergency management. Sara Kinsbergen is an assistant professor at the Department of Anthropology and Development Studies and program director of the Advanced Master in International Development at Radboud University. She has a longstanding track record in studying Private Development Initiatives. Her research focuses on the identity of these organisations, their partnerships and the sustainability of their development interventions. Lau Schulpen is a lecturer and researcher in Development Studies at Radboud University, the Netherlands. With a long-term focus on international development cooperation, he has published extensively on Dutch development policy, the role of NGDOs and Private Initiatives. Crucial in his work is bridging the gap between academic research and policy/practice. Hege Wallevik is an associate professor at the Department for Global Development and Planning at the University of Agder, Norway. Her research interests include gender and diversity, migration and integration, citizen initiatives for global solidarity, and humanitarian aid and civic engagement.

List of Contributors. PART ONE. 1.The Articles of Faith of Citizen Aid actors - between Dreams and Realities. 2.Citizen Initiatives for Global Solidarity (CIGS) as new development actors in Norway - an exploration of how and why they emerge. 3.Bittersweet - exploring interactions between NGDOs and PDIs in the Netherlands. 4.The Multiple Triggers and Distinguishing Features of Canadian Citizen Aid Initiatives. 5.Perpetual Effervescence? The life trajectories of American Grassroot International NGOs. 6.The founder-syndrome; explaining the boundaries of financial expansion of Small-Scale Development Initiatives. PART TWO. 7.Brokering as a balancing act: Local coordinators in citizen initiatives for global solidarity. 8.Citizen Aid Celebrities? The Role of Charismatic Founders. 9.Citizen Initiatives for Global Solidarity (CIGS), frontier Africans, and experiences of trans-local networking. 10.Amical break-up or messy divorce? Understanding sustainable exit strategies of voluntary development organizations. 11.Citizen initiatives in humanitarian aid: Lesvos, Greece as a case in bottom-up humanitarian assistance mobilization. 12.Professionalized Humanitarianism and the Essentialization of Victimhood. Index.