The coordination of relief in international humanitarian crises has long been viewed as fraught with problems of inadequate oversight and coordination. Contrary to this claim, this article argues that the international relief system, viewed as interdependent actors, is better understood on the basis of the principle of polycentricity. The authors sketch the conditions necessary to secure a polycentric social order and compare these to the international humanitarian relief framework. They argue that polycentricity may be a more apt aspiration for participants in the international relief system than are calls for new and more stringent forms of monocentric coordination, but its conditions too may be difficult for the relevant participants to realize. The authors explore the tensions and possibilities implicit in this reframing at both the strategic and operating scales.
Argyris, C., & Schon, D. (1996). Organizational learning II: Theory, method, and practice. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley .
2.
Beck, U. (1992). Risk society: Towards a new modernity. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
3.
Clegg, S., & Courpasson, D. (2003). Political hybrids: Tocquevillean views on project organizations. Journal of Management Studies , 41, 525-547.
4.
Couto, R. (1999). Making democracy work better: Mediating structures, social capital, and the democratic prospect. Chapel Hill : University of North Carolina Press.
5.
Farmer, D.J. (1995). The language of public administration: Bureaucracy, modernity and postmodernity. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.
6.
Gerlach, L.P. (2001). The structure of social movements: Environmental activism and its opponents. In J. Arquilla & D. Ronfeldt (Eds.), Networks and netwars: The future of terror, crime, and militancy (pp. 289-310). Santa Monica, CA: RAND.
7.
Granovetter, M. (1983). The strength of weak ties: A network theory revisited . Sociological Theory, 1, 201-233.
8.
Holling, C. S. (Ed.). (1978). Adaptive environmental assessment and management. Chichester , UK: John Wiley.
9.
Huber, G. (1991). Organizational learning: The contributing processes and the literatures. Organization Science, 2(1), 88-115.
10.
Jenkins, J.C. (1983). Resource mobilization theory and the study of social movements. Annual Review of Sociology, 9, 527-553.
11.
Jenkins, J.C., & Halcli, A.L. (1999). Grassrooting the system? The development and impact of social movement philanthropy, 1953-1990. In E. C. Lagemann (Ed.), Philanthropic foundations: New scholarship, new possibilities (pp. 229-256). Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
12.
Jennings, P., & Greenwood, R. (2003). Constructing the iron cage: Institutional theory and enactment. In R. Westwood & S. Clegg (Eds.), Debating organizations (pp. 195-207). Oxford, UK: Blackwell.
13.
Luke, T. (1999). Capitalism, democracy, and ecology: Departing from Marx. Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
14.
March, J. (1991). Exploration and exploitation in organizational learning. Organization Science, 2(1). 71-87.
15.
Michels, R. (2001). Political parties: A sociological study of the oligarchical tendencies of modern democracy. Kitchener , Canada: Batoche Books. Original work published 1915
16.
Nielsen, R.P. (1993). Woolman's "I am we" triple-loop action-learning: Origin and application in organization ethics. Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, 29, 117-138
17.
Ostrom, V. (1973, Fall). Can federalism make a difference? Publius, 3, 197-238.
18.
Ostrom, V. (1987). The political theory of a compound republic: Designing the American experiment (Rev. ed.). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.
19.
Ostrom, V. (1991). The meaning of American federalism: Constituting a self-governing society. San Francisco: Institute for Contemporary Studies.
20.
Ostrom, V., Tiebout, C.M., & Warren, R. (1961). The organization of government in metropolitan areas: A theoretical inquiry. American Political Science Review , 55, 831-842.
21.
O'Toole, L.J., & Meier, K.J. (2004). Desperately seeking Selznick: Cooptation and the dark side of public management in networks. Public Administration Review, 64, 681-693.
22.
Polanyi, M. (1965). The logic of liberty: Reflections and rejoinders . Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Original work published 1951
Selznick, P. (1949). TVA and the grass roots: A study of politics and organization. Berkeley: University of California Press.
25.
Senge, P. (1990). The fifth discipline: The art and practice of the learning organization. New York: Doubleday.
26.
Smillie, I., & Minear, L. (2004). The charity of nations: Humanitarian action in a calculating world. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian.
27.
Stephenson, M., Jr. (2005). Making humanitarian relief networks more effective: Operational coordination, trust and sense making. Disasters, 29, 337-350.
28.
Stephenson, M., Jr. (2006). Toward a descriptive model of humanitarian assistance coordination. Voluntas: The International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 17(1), 41-57.
29.
Stephenson, M., Jr. , & Schnitzer, M. (2006). The role of trust and boundary spanning behavior in humanitarian assistance coordination . Non-Profit Management and Leadership, 17, 211-233.
30.
Stinchcombe, A.L. (1965). Social structure and organizations. In J. G. March (Ed.), Handbook of organizations (pp. 142-193). Chicago: Rand McNally.
31.
Stoddard, A. (2006). Humanitarian alert: NGO information and its impact on U.S. foreign policy. Bloomfield, CT: Kumarian.
32.
Thompson, G. (2003). Between hierarchies and markets: The logic and limits of network forms of organization. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
33.
Walters, C. (1986). Adaptive management of renewable resources. New York: Macmillan.
34.
Weber, M. (1968). Economy and society: An outline of interpretive sociology (3 vols.). New York: Bedminster.
35.
Weick, K. (1988). Enacted sensemaking in crisis situations. Journal of Management Studies, 25, 305-317.
36.
Weick, K. (1995). Sensemaking in organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
37.
Wise, C.R. (2006). Organizing for homeland security after Katrina: Is adaptive management what's missing? Public Administration Review, 66, 302-318.
