Subversive Humanitarianism and Its Challenges: Notes on the Political Ambiguities of Civil Refugee Support

Vandevoordt, Robin; Verschraegen, Gert

doi:10.1007/978-3-319-92741-1_4

Cited by 49 publications

(51 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…In this research, we examined the relation between injunctive norms and a specific form of solidarity-based action associated with humanitarianism or benevolence. This form of helping behavior is commonly distinguished from activismalthough some authors suggest that this dichotomy is not as clear cut as one might expect (Vandevoordt & Verschraegen, 2019). One could thus argue that similar processes occur for political activism.…”

Section: G Ener Al Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The social network of solidarity with migrants: The role of perceived injunctive norms on intergroup helping behaviors

Roblain

Hanioti

Paulis

et al. 2020

Euro J Social Psych

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Using an ego-centered network approach, we examine across two studies whether and how injunctive network norms-behaviors that are approved by alters-are related to majority members' decisions to participate in helping actions supporting migrants. We hypothesize that the more people perceive their personal social networks as positive toward humanitarian actions for migrants, the more they consider their opinions on migration issues as self-defining, and the more they are willing to mobilize in helping behaviors. With a name generator approach, we collected personal social network data among majority members of Belgian, mobilized volunteers (Study 1, N = 204) and Swiss, non-mobilized participants (Study 2, N = 247). Results demonstrate the impact of injunctive network norms in promoting and maintaining helping actions for migrants, and the role of self-defining attitudes. Overall, the results highlight the importance of injunctive norms within personal social networks for participation in intergroup helping behaviors.

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Section: G Ener Al Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The social network of solidarity with migrants: The role of perceived injunctive norms on intergroup helping behaviors

Roblain

Hanioti

Paulis

et al. 2020

Euro J Social Psych

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“…The vast movement of refugee support that has emerged across Europe as a result of the 2015 ‘refugee crisis’ has been the subject of growing scholarly attention (Agustín and Bak Jorgensen, 2019; Armbruster, 2019; Della Porta, 2018; Feischmidt et al, 2019; Fontanari and Borri, 2017; Youkhana and Sutter, 2017). The literature has focused on the emergence and nature of this volunteer-based movement (De Jong and Ataç, 2017; Sandri, 2018; Zamponi, 2017), its relationship to political action (Fleischmann and Steinhilper, 2017; Vandevoordt and Verschraegen, 2019) and the role of emotions in mobilising participants (Armbruster, 2019; Doidge and Sandri, 2018; Karakayali, 2017; Sirriyeh, 2018). In particular, these studies show how compassion is a central emotion that motivates a variety of actors to participate in the movement, as well as how this emotion shapes the nature of civil society response to the ‘refugee crisis’ (Armbruster, 2019; Kleres, 2018; Sirriyeh, 2018).…”

Section: Compassion Deservingness and Refugee Support Volunteeringmentioning

confidence: 99%

Who Deserves Compassion? The Moral and Emotional Dilemmas of Volunteering in the ‘Refugee Crisis’

Maestri

Monforte

2020

Sociology

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Since the ‘refugee crisis’ in 2015, civil society across Europe has participated in an unprecedented wave of support towards migrants. This article focuses on the volunteers engaged in this movement and explores how they relate emotions of compassion and evaluations about the ‘deservingness’ of refugees. We do so by analysing the moral dilemmas British volunteers face in their interaction with refugees, and the strategies they develop to avoid the difficulties that emerge when judging who the ‘deserving’ refugees are. We illustrate how these coping strategies lead them to emphasise the practicality of their role and to move beyond logics of deservingness. We argue that these dilemmatic situations reshape the meaning of compassionate acts in ambivalent ways: while reinforcing a tendency to create an emotional distance, they also allow volunteers to challenge idealised representations of refugees and foreground the political nature of their vulnerability.

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“…Yet, particularly the diverse activities of migrant support proliferating since the ‘summer of migration’ 2015 have prompted scholars to adopt a more nuanced look into the practices and framings of the actors involved and particularly into the relationship between humanitarianism and politics. While all of these contributions underline a fundamental ambivalence of migrant support between depoliticization and re-politicization (Fleischmann and Steinhilper, 2017; Sinatti, 2019; Vandevoordt and Fleischmann, forthcoming; Vandevoordt and Verschraegen, 2019), they document the ‘possibility for political dissent to be formulated and enacted from within humanitarian reason’ (Stierl, 2018: 3, italics in original). Balancing the previously dominant scepticism towards the transformative potential of humanitarian practice, empirical studies have found multiple variants ranging from ‘a minimalist humanitarianism that is exclusionary and depoliticizing’ to an empowering ‘enabling humanitarianism’ (Sinatti, 2019).…”

Section: Migrant Support Between Humanitarianism and Solidaritymentioning

confidence: 99%

Countering the Asylum Paradox Through Strategic Humanitarianism: Evidence from Safe Passage Activism in Germany

Schwiertz

Steinhilper

2020

Critical Sociology

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This paper inquires the moral and political ambivalences of migrant support located between contentious politics and humanitarian aid. Comparing Save Me and Seebrücke, two cases of pro-migrant activism in Germany claiming the safe passage of migrants to Europe, we develop the notion of ‘strategic humanitarianism’, a hybrid form of migrant support, in which actors combine the strategic employment of predominantly depoliticizing, narrow and humanitarian framing with a contentious repertoire of action. It entails deliberately sacrificing a ‘deep’ politicization of fundamental critique against contemporary migration regimes in order to achieve a ‘wide’ politicization and broad consensus for progressive social change. Furthermore, we carve out how distinct political contexts, in this case the issue salience and polarization of migration, influence the dynamics of mobilization and the configuration of humanitarianism and contentious politics. Despite a similar focus, thus, the ‘strategic humanitarianism’ of Save Me has developed a less contentious and disobedient character than Seebrücke.

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Subversive Humanitarianism and Its Challenges: Notes on the Political Ambiguities of Civil Refugee Support

Cited by 49 publications

References 36 publications

The social network of solidarity with migrants: The role of perceived injunctive norms on intergroup helping behaviors

The social network of solidarity with migrants: The role of perceived injunctive norms on intergroup helping behaviors

Who Deserves Compassion? The Moral and Emotional Dilemmas of Volunteering in the ‘Refugee Crisis’

Countering the Asylum Paradox Through Strategic Humanitarianism: Evidence from Safe Passage Activism in Germany

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