Abstract
Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in post-earthquake Haiti, this paper interrogates the notions of faith and professionalism in the work of humanitarian organizations intervening in a complex humanitarian crisis. It follows the narratives and actions of employees and beneficiaries of two faith-based organizations (FBOs)—one an internationally active humanitarian FBO that exerts a form of strategic secularism, the other a locally rooted exclusively Haitian organization with an outright religious vocation—and seeks to discern the different ways in which faith and professionalism shaped, motivated and challenged the two organizations, their employees and their beneficiaries. The distributive practice of the organizations is the central category of analysis. It is within this action that discourse meets practice and possible frictions between the two spheres become apparent.
Humanitarians active in post-disaster Haiti can be interpreted as mediants that produce materialities (Appadurai, Publ Culture 27:221–237, 2015) with transcendental underpinnings, may they appear in the form of religious faith or in more abstract notions of humanity and moral imperatives dictated by contemporary humanitarianism. The paper intends to deconstruct binary readings of faith and professionalism as mutually exclusive categories as well as dismantle the often (neo-)colonial notions of professionalism applied in humanitarian contexts.
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Notes
- 1.
The exact death toll is a matter of dispute. Whereas the Haitian government stated the loss of 316,000 lives, others cite different numbers. According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA), 222,570 people died. Retrieved 24 May, 2016, from http://www.unocha.org/legacy/issues-in-depth/haiti-one-year-later.
- 2.
Lundahl (2013), p. 193.
- 3.
Ramachandran and Walz (2012).
- 4.
Clarke and Jennings (2008), p. 6.
- 5.
Steinke (2017).
- 6.
Karajkov (2007).
- 7.
Hopgood and Vinjamuri (2012), p. 37.
- 8.
Fassin (2012).
- 9.
Bornstein (2003).
- 10.
Schuller (2016).
- 11.
Barnett (2012).
- 12.
Barnett and Stein (2015), p. 8.
- 13.
Walker (2005), pp. 323–336.
- 14.
Hilhorst (2005), pp. 351–369.
- 15.
https://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/publication/p1067.htm. Accessed 24 May 2016.
- 16.
Ferris (2011), pp. 607–625.
- 17.
Fassin and Rechtman (2009), p. 280.
- 18.
Bornstein (2003).
- 19.
Bornstein and Redfield (2011).
- 20.
Calhoun (2008), pp. 73–97.
- 21.
Bornstein and Redfield (2011).
- 22.
Lunn (2009), pp. 937–951.
- 23.
Rist (2008), p. 21.
- 24.
Bornstein and Redfield (2011).
- 25.
Verna (2017).
- 26.
Maldonado-Torres (2014), pp. 636–665.
- 27.
Rey (1999).
- 28.
James (1989).
- 29.
Trouillot (2003).
- 30.
Keane (2007).
- 31.
Benthall (2012), pp. 65–89.
- 32.
Haitian Creole, literally to become more human.
- 33.
Édouard and Faustin (2009). Due to the porous boundaries of religiosity in Haiti—people often practise more than one religion—and to the general lack of census information there is no reliable data on religious affiliation.
- 34.
Diakonie Katastrophenhilfe (2011).
- 35.
Bornstein (2003).
- 36.
Hilhorst (2005).
- 37.
Caritas Internationalis (2003).
- 38.
Ferris (2011).
- 39.
Cited in Schuller (2017), pp. 68–73.
- 40.
Schuller (2016).
- 41.
Bornstein (2003).
- 42.
Fechter and Walsh (2010), pp. 1197–1210.
- 43.
Schuller (2016).
- 44.
Bornstein (2003).
- 45.
Caritas Internationalis (2003).
- 46.
Bornstein (2003).
- 47.
Taithe (2012), pp. 166–187.
- 48.
Barnett and Stein (2015).
- 49.
Kouchner, cited in Barnett and Stein (2015).
- 50.
Fassin (2012).
- 51.
Appadurai (2015).
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Steinke, A. (2020). Faith and Professionalism in Humanitarian Encounters in Post-Earthquake Haiti. In: Hensold, J., Kynes, J., Öhlmann, P., Rau, V., Schinagl, R., Taleb, A. (eds) Religion in Motion. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-41388-0_7
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