Amateurs without Borders the aspirations and limits of global compassion Allison Schnable university of california press Amateurs without Borders Amateurs without Borders the aspirations and limits of global compassion Allison Schnable university of california press University of California Press Oakland, California © 2021 by Allison Schnable Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Schnable, Allison, 1981– author. Title: Amateurs without borders : the aspirations and limits of global compassion / Allison Schnable. Description: Oakland, California : University of California Press, [2021] | Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: lccn 2020026932 (print) | lccn 2020026933 (ebook) | isbn 9780520300941 (cloth) | isbn 9780520300958 (paperback) | isbn 9780520972124 (epub) Subjects: lcsh: Non-governmental organizations—History—20th century. | Non-governmental organizations—History—21st century. Classification: lcc jz4841 .s35 2021 (print) | lcc jz4841 (ebook) | ddc 361.7/7—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020026932 LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020026933 Manufactured in the United States of America 29 28 27 26 25 24 23 22 21 20 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents List of Illustrations vii Acknowledgments ix Introduction 1 1 Origin Stories 27 2 Who, What, Where? The Projects of Grassroots International NGOs 47 3 Amateurs without Borders: A Role for Everyday Citizens in Development Aid 76 4 Provide and Transform: Grassroots INGOs’ Models of Aid 94 5 Resources, Relationships, and Accountability 116 6 Seen It with Their Own Eyes: Grassroots INGOs’ Discourse 141 7 Networks, Frames, Modes of Action: Roles for Religion 157 Conclusion: Possibilities and Perils of Amateur Aid 176 Appendix 1: Note on Methods 193 Appendix 2: Codes Used in Content Analysis 201 Appendix 3: Grassroots International NGOs in Website Sample 205 Notes 211 Bibliography 223 Index 239 Illustrations FIGURE 1. New international aid organizations registered annually with the IRS, 1970–2015 3 MAP 1. Top destination countries for grassroots INGOs and official development assistance 53 TABLES 1. Case Study Organizations 29 2. Destination Regions 51 3. Destination Countries 51 4. Top 20 Recipients of Official Development Assistance (Nonmilitary) in 2017 52 5. Project Sectors 57 6. Top Sectors for Official Development Assistance (Nonmilitary) in 2017 60 [ vii ] 7. Roles for US Supporters 62 8. Partner Organizations 65 9. Status Designations of Aid Recipients 69 10. Qualitative Descriptions of Aid Recipients 71 11. Rationales 72 12. Frequencies of Codes for Rationales, Recipients, and Roles for US Supporters by Aid Model 97 [ viii ] illustrations Acknowledgments This project had its beginnings in late-night conversations with fellow Peace Corps volunteers under the Senegalese moon. But it took shape thanks to the resources of an intellectual community that I acknowledge here with gratitude. I am grateful to have received the Lake Institute Dissertation Fellowship and the Charlotte Newcombe Dissertation Fellowship, which provided ample funding and time to carry out this research as a PhD student. At Princeton University, the Sociology Department, Center for the Study of Religion, Center for Arts and Cultural Policy Studies, Fellowship of Woodrow Wilson Scholars, and Program on International and Regional Studies also funded my research and offered chances to present my work in progress; this book is stronger for it. Thanks also to the Faculty Writing Groups at Indiana University, led by Laura Plummer, for creating a congenial environ- ment in which I could work on this manuscript. The Center for the Study of Religion was my intellectual home at Princeton, and I thank Director Emeritus Robert Wuthnow, Associate Director Jenny Wiley Legath, and Center Manager Anita Kline for cultivating such a remarkable intellectual environment there. The smart and congenial fellows I encountered at CSR over [ ix ]