Understanding Doctors Without Borders (MSF)

Ludovic Joxe
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This podcast is the result of a a research led since 2014 by Ludovic Joxe, sociologist and humanitarian aid worker for Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières/MSF). Each episode uses the Google NoteBookLM tool to discuss the content of a different article published by Ludovic Joxe in an academic journal in recent years. The written version of each article is avalaible online (https://cv.hal.science/ludovic-joxe) or can be requested from Ludovic Joxe (ludovic.joxe@gmail.com).

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  1. EPISODE 1

    From traumatic stress to job stress

    Over the past thirty years, the humanitarian sector has become increasingly professional, and society has recognised the importance of psychological well-being. This podcast describes how Médecins Sans Frontières has adapted its approach to managing the stress faced by humanitarian workers. Original article: https://www.alternatives-humanitaires.org/en/2023/07/17/from-traumatic-stress-to-stress-at-work-providing-psychological-care-for-medecins-sans-frontieres-staff/

    20 min

  2. EPISODE 2

    The acceptance of humanitarian intervention

    This podcast examines the acceptance of the humanitarian organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the areas where it operates. It focuses in particular on the individual memberships of direct aid beneficiaries and the more general recognition of the organization by the local social fabric. Original written article: https://shs.cairn.info/revue-ecrire-le-social-la-revue-de-l-aifris-2020-1-page-32

    11 min

  3. EPISODE 3

    Interest, disinterestedness and indifference

    In this podcast, we discuss the notion of disinterestedness within Doctors Without Borders (MSF). This podcast reveals three gradations of interest: first, interestedness, the gradation where individual material and symbolic rewards are recognised by the individuals, then, disinterestedness, second gradation where the rewards are a priori collective but also, in an indirect way and in different forms, individual, and finally indifference, third gradation where individuals have no judgement.

    9 min

  4. EPISODE 4

    A mobility capital?

    In this podcast, we discuss the fact that, at MSF, mobility experiences are accumulable, mobilizable, convertible, depreciable and transmissible. Based on that, we suggest that, while these experiences are not always mobilized by those who have them to climb the formal internal hierarchy, they do, in any case, enable them to gain decision-making power over their future career path within the organization.  Original written article: https://shs.cairn.info/article/ESP_184_0115/pdf?lang=fr

    9 min

  5. EPISODE 5

    Are humanitarian workers precarious?

    By defining precariousness as a period of undergone uncertainty, this article aims to grasp how the tension between militant ideal and managerial imperative of the organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), present since its foundation, has been translated into the form of a managerial policy sometimes perceived as an opportunity, sometimes as a constraint by humanitarian workers.

    9 min

  6. EPISODE 6

    Who is legitimate to speak out within MSF?

    In this podcast, we discuss the notion of politicization considering the organization Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) as a society of individuals in its own right, with its institutions, rules, norms and modes of operation, and seeking to understand who within it is legitimate to express themselves, who is listened to, and who actually participates in shaping its strategy. Original article: https://shs.cairn.info/revue-les-cahiers-d-outre-mer-2022-2-page-401

    13 min

  7. EPISODE 7

    Changes brought about by the southernization

    Over the past thirty years, many players in the international aid sector tried to involve the populations they work with in a movement of “southernization”. At MSF, this resulted in a diversification of the origin of “expatriates”, which itself led to a partial depoliticization of the organization, shifted its strategic balance and gave rise to a new social stratification. Article: https://shs.cairn.info/revue-internationale-des-etudes-du-developpement-2020-1-page-165

    11 min

  8. EPISODE 8

    Off-work and intimacy during missions

    What meaning does the notion of off-work have when employees, such as those at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), remain constrained by their uninterrupted world of work for months on end? Original written article: https://hal.science/hal-04502525/file/Spaces%20of%20control%20and%20spaces%20of%20intimacy.pdf

    12 min

  9. EPISODE 9

    How to sanction without causing pain?

    In the humanitarian sector, dedicated to alleviating people’s suffering, how to qualify a misconduct and impose a potentially painful sanction? How can one judge, i.e. consider that everyone is responsible for their act, in a working area based on the fact that human inequalities are partly due to social determinisms? To what extent tolerating deviance is exacerbated and sentences are attenuated if not lifted? Article: https://shs.cairn.info/revue-sociologies-pratiques-2023-1-page-55?

    13 min

  10. EPISODE 10

    Are doctors without borders doctors without a homeland?

    This podcast discusses the fact that humanitarian mission conditions limit local integration and the analytical article on which this podcast is based suggests three forms of attachment: home (“break expatriates”), elsewhere (“multi‑homeland expatriates”) or nowhere (“duty‑free expatriates”). For the latter, MSF plays, until their departure from the organization, the role of substitute homeland. Original written article: https://hal.science/hal-03323244/

    19 min

  11. EPISODE 11

    (All at once) When “saving the world” is a source of dissatisfaction

    “Saving the world, or at least alleviating some of the world's pain, is supposed to be rewarding. But care and healthcare activities are also known to be the most exposed to professional stress and burn-out. What then is happening in the humanitarian sector, and more specifically at Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), a sector at the convergence of these two perspectives? Original PhD work available here: https://theses.hal.science/tel-03281513

    8 min
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About

This podcast is the result of a a research led since 2014 by Ludovic Joxe, sociologist and humanitarian aid worker for Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières/MSF). Each episode uses the Google NoteBookLM tool to discuss the content of a different article published by Ludovic Joxe in an academic journal in recent years. The written version of each article is avalaible online (https://cv.hal.science/ludovic-joxe) or can be requested from Ludovic Joxe (ludovic.joxe@gmail.com).

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