CivilSociety Resource / Reference Library
Entrepreneurship, personal development, life coaching, return migration, research on inter-communal stress, and the Middle East
Listed by author, with links to Amazon.com for more information (when possible)
See also: The WWW Virtual Library on Migration and Ethnic Relations
Entrepreneurship, personal development, life coaching, return migration, research on inter-communal stress, and the Middle East
Listed by author, with links to Amazon.com for more information (when possible)
See also: The WWW Virtual Library on Migration and Ethnic Relations
Topic
5. Relief and Development Systems
Boyd, Ben Getting it there: A logistics handbook for relief and development
Logistics has crippled many armies, many corporations, and many humanitarian projects. The great visionary leaders can easily overlook the intricacy of details needed at the logistical level to make it possible for the great big dreams to become reality.
Cornish, Edward Futuring: The Exploration of the Future
This presents a grass-roots approach in collaborative future-making, without a top-down imposing more bureaucracy. Personally, it seems to me that many field-level decision-makers can be quite innovative and insightful, but their judgement is not trusted by administrators who control funding. Perhaps it is because administrators may not see the difference between book-keeping to put numbers in the right places and auditors to place value judgements on how money should be spent. Perhaps problems are because either administrators are former field workers promoted to a position they are not trained, gifted or equipped to handle, or it is due to lack of field experience and lack of personal involvement in field-level experiences and direct customer relations.
Couto, Richard To Give Their Gifts: Health, Community, and Democracy
Changing communities for the better requires innovation and leadership of the change process. Dr. Couto profiles "success stories" of twelve successful change agents" who battle ignorance, poverty, social barriers, and governments to improve the quality of life for community residents who had been neglected. I read a lot of this type book where many leaders or examples in particular sectors are interviewed and their differences and similarities are compared. This is heavier than my favorite (_Hindsights_ by Guy Kawasaki) and requires a lot of concentration to work through the rich details of how and why these leaders did create change. The most important point so far is that these are far more ordinary people with passion, not the brilliant and charismatic innovators more commonly held up as examples. Since I see myself as more of an ordinary person, this gives me hope that I can better encourage others and be a better catalyst in my daily life contacts. Thank you, Dick, for the gift of this book, and the many lessons you wrote in it --just for me!
Eade, D. & Williams, S. eds. Oxfam Handbook for Development and Relief (3-volume set)
Oxfam has documented their considerable experience in relief and development management, and this collection is very useful for project managers and decision makers.
Devereux, Stephen and Hoddinott, John, eds. Fieldwork in Developing Countries
How is research integrated into relief and development projects? How does research contribute to better improvement of quality of life? Devereux and Hoddinott contribute a very practical guide to working with community-based research teams.
Harrell-Bond, B.E. Imposing Aid: Emergency Assistance to Refugees
Pareja, M. "Preparing for a Rapid Livelihood Security Assessment" (Nairobi: CARE East Africa, 1997).
Roe, E. M. "Policy Analysis and Formulation for Sustainable Livelihood" (New York: UNDP, 1998).
UNHCR. Protecting Refugees: A Field Guide for NGOs
Vaux, Tony. (Oxfam) The Selfish Altruist
This is the best analysis I've seen of the charity/development tension, and how humanitarian projects can learn from and integrate with longterm development. You will gain from this book a wider appreciation of the ripple effects in an economy from rapid changes in the allocation of resources. You may be challenged to resolve the conflict between giving charity and building sustainable capacity for self-improvement.
5. Relief and Development Systems
Boyd, Ben Getting it there: A logistics handbook for relief and development
Logistics has crippled many armies, many corporations, and many humanitarian projects. The great visionary leaders can easily overlook the intricacy of details needed at the logistical level to make it possible for the great big dreams to become reality.
Cornish, Edward Futuring: The Exploration of the Future
This presents a grass-roots approach in collaborative future-making, without a top-down imposing more bureaucracy. Personally, it seems to me that many field-level decision-makers can be quite innovative and insightful, but their judgement is not trusted by administrators who control funding. Perhaps it is because administrators may not see the difference between book-keeping to put numbers in the right places and auditors to place value judgements on how money should be spent. Perhaps problems are because either administrators are former field workers promoted to a position they are not trained, gifted or equipped to handle, or it is due to lack of field experience and lack of personal involvement in field-level experiences and direct customer relations.
Couto, Richard To Give Their Gifts: Health, Community, and Democracy
Changing communities for the better requires innovation and leadership of the change process. Dr. Couto profiles "success stories" of twelve successful change agents" who battle ignorance, poverty, social barriers, and governments to improve the quality of life for community residents who had been neglected. I read a lot of this type book where many leaders or examples in particular sectors are interviewed and their differences and similarities are compared. This is heavier than my favorite (_Hindsights_ by Guy Kawasaki) and requires a lot of concentration to work through the rich details of how and why these leaders did create change. The most important point so far is that these are far more ordinary people with passion, not the brilliant and charismatic innovators more commonly held up as examples. Since I see myself as more of an ordinary person, this gives me hope that I can better encourage others and be a better catalyst in my daily life contacts. Thank you, Dick, for the gift of this book, and the many lessons you wrote in it --just for me!
Eade, D. & Williams, S. eds. Oxfam Handbook for Development and Relief (3-volume set)
Oxfam has documented their considerable experience in relief and development management, and this collection is very useful for project managers and decision makers.
Devereux, Stephen and Hoddinott, John, eds. Fieldwork in Developing Countries
How is research integrated into relief and development projects? How does research contribute to better improvement of quality of life? Devereux and Hoddinott contribute a very practical guide to working with community-based research teams.
Harrell-Bond, B.E. Imposing Aid: Emergency Assistance to Refugees
Pareja, M. "Preparing for a Rapid Livelihood Security Assessment" (Nairobi: CARE East Africa, 1997).
Roe, E. M. "Policy Analysis and Formulation for Sustainable Livelihood" (New York: UNDP, 1998).
UNHCR. Protecting Refugees: A Field Guide for NGOs
Vaux, Tony. (Oxfam) The Selfish Altruist
This is the best analysis I've seen of the charity/development tension, and how humanitarian projects can learn from and integrate with longterm development. You will gain from this book a wider appreciation of the ripple effects in an economy from rapid changes in the allocation of resources. You may be challenged to resolve the conflict between giving charity and building sustainable capacity for self-improvement.
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