| dc.description.abstract | With calls to localize and decolonize humanitarian aid, more attention has been paid to civic humanitarian actors operating at the local level. However, there remains a significant gap in understanding their operations. This thesis explores civic humanitarianism, encompassing both formal and informal community service, collective action and political participation that operates parallel to, but are not officially part of the humanitarian system. This includes communitarian socio-cultural support practices within refugee and host communities, as well as relational acts of supporting kin and neighbours. The thesis emphasizes the importance of learning from these diverse practices and their underlying principles to enrich and rethink the humanitarian lexicon.
Fieldwork was conducted between 2020 and 2023 in the Bidibidi refugee settlement and urban refugee neighborhoods in Kampala, Uganda. A qualitative approach was used, involving interviews, focus group discussions, participatory observation, and dialogue centered on refugee migration journeys, social networks, and how crisis-affected people mobilize and organize to assist each other at different stages of displacement. The fieldwork highlighted the crucial role of community groups, committees, associations, and organizations, many led by crisis-affected people themselves in crisis response. Their efforts are significant, but often invisible, under-recognized, and not engaged with in mainstream humanitarianism.
In addition to visibility, accountability is a key concept in the thesis, seen as both a catalyst and a barrier for localization and decolonization efforts. Civic actors are often perceived as lacking operational capacity and formal accounting mechanisms. However, this does not mean that accountability is not practiced. As highlighted in the thesis, accountability among these actors is often informed by connectedness, embeddedness, and social relations rather than formal accounting principles. While mindful of romanticization and essentialism, the thesis contends that existing humanitarian frameworks can be enriched by broadening the understanding of humanitarianism and accountability beyond narrow technocratic perspectives and individualized ethical registers. This more plural and relational understanding of humanitarianism might be necessary to progress toward localizing aid and addressing the power imbalances necessary for its decolonization. | en_US |
