Calls to action within NGO reporting practices: the constitution of humanitarian imaginaries

This paper investigates contemporary forms of reporting in non-governmental organisations (NGOs). In particular, it examines reporting on social media sites and through e-mails to supporters, and shows how reporting on these platforms not only serves to provide and legitimise accounts of NGO activity and performance, but also to constitute potential supporters of the organisation into particular humanitarian imaginaries. The papers focuses in particular on Chouliaraki’s (2013) solidarity as agonism approach which combines the elicitation of both an empathetic imagination and reflexive judgement amongst NGO supporters.

Dr. Susan O Leary  is a Lecturer in Accounting at the School of Business and Management at Royal Holloway University of London and is also a member of the Centre for Research into Sustainability.

Dr.  O Leary’s research interests primarily relate to the use of accountability practices within non-governmental organisations (NGOs). She is particularly interested in the monitoring, evaluation and impact assessment tools used within NGOs, and how they are used to derive outcomes as diverse as accountability to financial donors to the fulfilment of social development obligations at a grassroots level. Her research employs a critical and interdisciplinary style with an emphasis on case-based, qualitative and at times, ethnographic research methods.