Beyond humanitarian logics: Volunteer-refugee encounters in Chios and Paris

Stavinoha, Ludek and Ramakrishnan, Kavita (2020) Beyond humanitarian logics: Volunteer-refugee encounters in Chios and Paris. Humanity, 11 (2). pp. 165-186. ISSN 2151-4364

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Abstract

Since 2015, grassroots volunteers have emerged as key actors in the humanitarian response to Europe’s “refugee crisis.” Based on ethnographic research on the Greek island of Chios and in Paris, this essay explores how volunteers navigate the ethical and political dilemmas inherent to humanitarian action in their everyday encounters with refugees. We argue that while volunteers sometimes mimic disciplinary humanitarian practices, the exchange of “biographical life” in and beyond camps allows volunteers to reimagine a more dignified provision of care and for creative solidarities to emerge. The presence of volunteers, we conclude, thus plays an important role in re-humanizing and re-politicizing refugee spaces, thereby challenging—even if momentarily—dominant humanitarian logics.

Item Type: Article
Uncontrolled Keywords: refugees,volunteers,humanitarianism,migration,anthropology,sdg 16 - peace, justice and strong institutions ,/dk/atira/pure/subjectarea/asjc/3300/3314
Faculty \ School: Faculty of Social Sciences > School of International Development
UEA Research Groups: Faculty of Social Sciences > Research Groups > Migration Research Network
Related URLs:
Depositing User: LivePure Connector
Date Deposited: 29 Apr 2019 15:30
Last Modified: 21 Oct 2022 22:33
URI: https://ueaeprints.uea.ac.uk/id/eprint/70743
DOI: 10.1353/hum.2020.0018

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