Non-governmental organization global, volunteerism local: An exploration of moral anthropology

This paper is an exploratory study of moral anthropology focused on the local practices of global non-governmental organizations. For more than 10 years, Ruili Women and Children Development Center (the Center) in the southwest border region of China has developed itself into a non-governmental organization that adopts transnational humanitarianism and fosters a spirit of grassroots volunteer dedication. In this paper, two anthropologists’ analytic framework of morality will be examined and my own views on morality/ethics will be discussed in three aspects: morality as norms, morality as doing good, and ethics as affect. The Center came into existence in response to the decline and uncertainty of local morality (morality as norms). Under such conditions, the Center allies itself with transnational humanitarianism to provide much-needed medical care for the sick in the region (morality as doing good). In the process, the Center, mainly consisting of female members, has created a “life-environment” that is in tune with global humanitarianism and an army of devoted volunteers, especially among local HIV-infected women, who have found “joie” in life itself (ethics as affect). This study hopes to broaden our theoretical and experiential understanding of non-governmental organizations, and of how to improve quality of life in times of social change.