Life in Crisis: The Ethical Journey of Doctors Without Borders

Peter Redfield

Published by University of California Press 2013

Life in Crisis

The Ethical Journey of Doctors Without Borders

Peter Redfield

https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520955189

Overview
Contents

About this book

Life in Crisis tells the story of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders or MSF) and its effort to "save lives" on a global scale. Begun in 1971 as a French alternative to the Red Cross, the MSF has grown into an international institution with a reputation for outspoken protest as well as technical efficiency. It has also expanded beyond emergency response, providing for a wider range of endeavors, including AIDS care. Yet its seemingly simple ethical goal proves deeply complex in practice. MSF continually faces the problem of defining its own limits. Its minimalist form of care recalls the promise of state welfare, but without political resolution or a sense of well-being beyond health and survival. Lacking utopian certainty, the group struggles when the moral clarity of crisis fades. Nevertheless, it continues to take action and innovate. Its organizational history illustrates both the logic and the tensions of casting humanitarian medicine into a leading role in international affairs.

Author / Editor information

Redfield Peter :

Peter Redfield is Professor of Anthropology at the University of North Carolina. He is the author of Space in the Tropics: From Convicts to Rockets in French Guiana.

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	i
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	vii
List Of Figures Publicly Available Download PDF	ix
Acknowledgments Publicly Available Download PDF	xi
Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Part One. Terms Of Engagement
1. A Time Of Crisis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	11
2. A Secular Value Of Life Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	37
Part Two. Global Ambitions
3. Vital Mobility Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	69
4. Moral Witness Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	98
5. Human Frontiers Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	124
Part Three. Testing Limits
6. The Problem Of Triage Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	155
7. The Longue Durée Of Disease Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	179
8. The Verge Of Crisis Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	205
9. Action Beyond Optimism Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	229
Epilogue Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	245
Notes Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	249
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	273
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	291

Language: English
Publisher: University of California Press
Pages
- Main content: 338

eBook

Published: February 25, 2013
ISBN: 9780520955189