Humanitarian Ethics: A Guide to the Morality of Aid in War and Disaster

by Hugo Slim

An indispensable guide to the moral quandaries confronting those engaged in humanitarian action.

Genres: Nonfiction, Society, Philosophy

224 pages, Paperback

First published September 1, 2015

Reviews

[liv (≧▽≦)]

Read for my Graduate Diploma in Humanitarianism and Development. This book was included in the recommended reading list for those who have never studied humanitarianism before, and I am so glad I read it! Essential reading for anyone wanting to undertake humanitarian work, aid work, human rights work etc etc.

This book covers everything from the ethics of humanitarian work, issues while on the job, how to navigate difficult or life-threatening scenarios, the importance of working with local community groups and the importance of undertaking work in a non-imperialistic/colonial way. Slim does a fantastic job at communicating the nuances of humanitarianism in an easy-to-comprehend way.

[Sophia Sims]

boring af read for class but good i guess

[SpaceBear]

Quite simply the best book on the subject (even though there probably aren't many books on humanitarian ethics!). Slim provides an overview of ethical inquiry, as well as key humanitarian principles and ethical challenges they often face. It provides an interesting analysis of how ethical humanitarians can navigate complex contexts, while avoiding the kind of paternalistic "we are here to help you" approaches which have not succeeded in the past. An incredible read, which for any professional humanitarian, will lead to a large amount of introspection.

[Nico]

Great book to read for all humanitarian workers. It definitely makes you reflect on the humanitarian field in general but also your role in it. I wish he had discussed more extensively about the practice that certain NGOs seem to have at times concerning putting security risks into national staff through methods of such as using the pretext of partnerships to in a way delegate the risks and dangers to a different "partner" NGO.

[Louise Bloom]

Slim does an excellent job of summarising the moral, historical and emotional world that has made up the humanitarian sector. He balances the existence, and need, of humanitarian work with the sea of moral dilemas that surrounds it.

[Brooke]

7/10. As far as required reading is concerned, this one was pretty solid. I learned from the discussions about why we feel the need to provide aid for other humans and whether humanitarian aid should be political or not.

[Inah Ja]

It is a great book to read butI have a higher expectation from this book which i wish it has more discussion on current ethical dilemmas

[Reader]

Excellent book by a great expert.

[Mills College Library]

361.26 S6335 2015