Above the Fray

"We now take humanitarian nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) such as the Red Cross or Oxfam for granted, but as sociologist Shai Dromi shows us, these social organizations are a relatively recent invention. In fact, when the Red Cross movement, which arose from the efforts of orthodox Calvinists, first began to advocate for impartial humanitarian work in the mid-1800s, it was met with incredulity, suspicion, and ethical objections. But within two decades the idea that humanitarian organizations are an absolute social necessity swept North Atlantic civil societies, giving rise to a growing humanitarian sector that spanned three continents and appealed to aristocrats, professionals, clergy, and working classes alike. The genesis of the humanitarian field from the religious convictions of its founders provides an exceptionally revealing historical case that demonstrates how abstract moral beliefs create new social institutions that, in turn, preserve and replicate them through history"--