Re: [gep-ed] The Oxfam scandal shows that, yes, nonprofits can behave badly. So why aren’t they overseen like for-profits? (fwd)

[Kathleen McAfee]

Thanks for that important point and question, Tim.

On Mon, Feb 19, 2018 at 2:36 PM, Forsyth,TJ  wrote:

> Dear Aseem and colleagues
> Congratulations on your excellent article in the WP. But please can I
> suggest that we all pause before fixing this narrative of the Oxfam crisis?
>
> I am not for one second condoning the behaviour of the staff in Haiti, nor
> Oxfam’s economy of the truth in reporting it. But I do want to stress how
> the story about Oxfam, and the recent flurry of added allegations about the
> aid sector, have come at a time in the UK when there is a very clear
> campaign to discredit overseas aid. The UK passed a law in 2015 to make it
> a legal requirement to spend 0.7 percent of GNP on overseas aid, which has
> been vigorously opposed by the same politicians and newspapers who have
> fought to leave the EU. Many analysts believe that reducing trust in one of
> the oldest brands associated with international aid is an effective route
> to influencing public debate about aid along those same libertarian lines.
>
> Your article asks: "Why do nonprofit organizations behave in unprincipled
> ways?” That’s a very good question. But I think we also have to ask “What
> are the influences on the information we receive about nonprofits?” and “Do
> other sectors get the same scrutiny?”  I suggest we need to be more
> cautious about how to interpret this widespread criticism of the aid sector
> before assuming the stories are facts, and that the lessons are clear.
>
> Best regards
> Tim F
> Professor, Department of International Development,
> London School of Economics and Political Science
>
>
>
>
> On 19 Feb 2018, at 18:32, as...@u.washington.edu wrote:
>
>
>
>
> Colleagues:
>
> Several scholars on this list study nonprofits/NGOs and have written on
> governance failures. The article
> we published on the Oxfam scandal in the Washington Post/Monkey Cage Today
> might interest them:
> The Oxfam scandal shows that, yes, nonprofits can behave badly. So why
> aren’t they overseen like for-profits?
>
> https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/
> 02/19/the-oxfam-scandal-shows-that-yes-nonprofits-can-
> behave-badly-so-why-arent-they-overseen-like-for-profits/?utm_term=.
> 2c52a0e35df4
>
> The civic sector plays an important role in the contemporary society.Yet,
> the Oxfam scandal (and other scandals that are now getting revealed as well
> as the cover-up at Oxfam since 2011 of the Haiti episode) raises serious
> questions about our theoretical understanding of the NGO/nonprofit sector.
>
> Yes, this is not the first scandal. Nevertheless, if a moral leader such
> as Oxfam has serious governance failures, we should seriously examine our
> conception of the NGO/NPO sector -- with the intent to reform it. To do so,
> we need to study both the successes and failures of NPO/NGO governance.
>
> Aseem
>
>
> 
>
> Aseem Prakash
> Professor, Department of Political Science
> Walker Family Professor for the College of Arts and Sciences
> Founding Director, UW Center for Environmental Politics
> 39 Gowen Hall, Box 353530
> University of Washington
> Seattle, WA 98195-3530
>
> http://faculty.washington.edu/aseem/
> http://depts.washington.edu/envirpol/
>
>
> --
> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
> "gep-ed" group.
> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
> email to gep-ed+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
>



-- 
Kathleen McAfee
Professor, International Relations
San Francisco State University
kmca...@sfsu.edu

-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups 
"gep-ed" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email 
to gep-ed+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

Re: [gep-ed] The Oxfam scandal shows that, yes, nonprofits can behave badly. So why aren’t they overseen like for-profits? (fwd)

[Forsyth,TJ]

Dear Aseem and colleagues
Congratulations on your excellent article in the WP. But please can I suggest 
that we all pause before fixing this narrative of the Oxfam crisis?

I am not for one second condoning the behaviour of the staff in Haiti, nor 
Oxfam’s economy of the truth in reporting it. But I do want to stress how the 
story about Oxfam, and the recent flurry of added allegations about the aid 
sector, have come at a time in the UK when there is a very clear campaign to 
discredit overseas aid. The UK passed a law in 2015 to make it a legal 
requirement to spend 0.7 percent of GNP on overseas aid, which has been 
vigorously opposed by the same politicians and newspapers who have fought to 
leave the EU. Many analysts believe that reducing trust in one of the oldest 
brands associated with international aid is an effective route to influencing 
public debate about aid along those same libertarian lines.

Your article asks: "Why do nonprofit organizations behave in unprincipled 
ways?” That’s a very good question. But I think we also have to ask “What are 
the influences on the information we receive about nonprofits?” and “Do other 
sectors get the same scrutiny?”  I suggest we need to be more cautious about 
how to interpret this widespread criticism of the aid sector before assuming 
the stories are facts, and that the lessons are clear.

Best regards
Tim F
Professor, Department of International Development,
London School of Economics and Political Science




On 19 Feb 2018, at 18:32, as...@u.washington.edu 
wrote:




Colleagues:

Several scholars on this list study nonprofits/NGOs and have written on 
governance failures. The article
we published on the Oxfam scandal in the Washington Post/Monkey Cage Today 
might interest them:
The Oxfam scandal shows that, yes, nonprofits can behave badly. So why aren’t 
they overseen like for-profits?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/02/19/the-oxfam-scandal-shows-that-yes-nonprofits-can-behave-badly-so-why-arent-they-overseen-like-for-profits/?utm_term=.2c52a0e35df4

The civic sector plays an important role in the contemporary society.Yet, the 
Oxfam scandal (and other scandals that are now getting revealed as well as the 
cover-up at Oxfam since 2011 of the Haiti episode) raises serious questions 
about our theoretical understanding of the NGO/nonprofit sector.

Yes, this is not the first scandal. Nevertheless, if a moral leader such as 
Oxfam has serious governance failures, we should seriously examine our 
conception of the NGO/NPO sector -- with the intent to reform it. To do so, we 
need to study both the successes and failures of NPO/NGO governance.

Aseem




Aseem Prakash
Professor, Department of Political Science
Walker Family Professor for the College of Arts and Sciences
Founding Director, UW Center for Environmental Politics
39 Gowen Hall, Box 353530
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195-3530

http://faculty.washington.edu/aseem/
http://depts.washington.edu/envirpol/


-- 
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups 
"gep-ed" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email 
to gep-ed+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[gep-ed] The Oxfam scandal shows that, yes, nonprofits can behave badly. So why aren’t they overseen like for-profits? (fwd)

[aseem]

Colleagues:

Several scholars on this list study nonprofits/NGOs and have written on 
governance failures. The article
we published on the Oxfam scandal in the Washington Post/Monkey Cage Today 
might interest them:
The Oxfam scandal shows that, yes, nonprofits can behave badly. So why aren’t 
they overseen like for-profits?

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2018/02/19/the-oxfam-scandal-shows-that-yes-nonprofits-can-behave-badly-so-why-arent-they-overseen-like-for-profits/?utm_term=.2c52a0e35df4

The civic sector plays an important role in the contemporary society.Yet, the 
Oxfam scandal (and other scandals that are now getting revealed as well as the 
cover-up at Oxfam since 2011 of the Haiti episode) raises serious questions 
about our theoretical understanding of the NGO/nonprofit sector. 

Yes, this is not the first scandal. Nevertheless, if a moral leader such as 
Oxfam has serious governance failures, we should seriously examine our 
conception of the NGO/NPO sector -- with the intent to reform it. To do so, we 
need to study both the successes and failures of NPO/NGO governance.

Aseem




Aseem Prakash
Professor, Department of Political Science
Walker Family Professor for the College of Arts and Sciences
Founding Director, UW Center for Environmental Politics
39 Gowen Hall, Box 353530
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195-3530

http://faculty.washington.edu/aseem/
http://depts.washington.edu/envirpol/