Life Lived in Relief: Experiences with Humanitarianism Since 1948

George Washington University, Washington DC

Investigators

Abstract

This project is designed to understand the nature of politics in contexts of extended humanitarian assistance. It explores the importance of relief practices in the development of political identity in exile. As such, it departs from a recent emphasis in the literature on the de-politicizing effects of humanitarianism, which reduces refugees to merely focused on immediate survival. The researcher will collect data to answer three questions: (1) How does politics emerge in the context of a struggle for physical survival?; (2) What are the noninstitutionalized means through which people express political ideas and make political claims?; and, (3) How is "community" produced across a diffuse humanitarian terrain? The project will involve archival research, oral histories, and ethnographic fieldwork with refugees and the agencies and organizations that provide assistance to them. This research is both multi-sited and long-term, making it possible to track change over time and to identify the distinctions of particular geographic locations. The research will shed light on the long-term effects of humanitarian interventions. A better understanding of the impact of long-term humanitarian assistance on refugee communities is vital for both academic and policy communities.