February 2023
Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Southern Responses to Displacement’s PI, has been awarded a Cornell-UCL Global Strategic Collaboration Awards. The award was won jointly with colleagues Dr. Saida Hodzic and Dr Eleanor Paynter from Cornell University.
November 2022
On the 4th of November 2022 Southern Responses to Displacement project, Prof Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, delivered the NCHS Annual Lecture at the Norwegian Centre for Humanitarian Studies. In the lecture, Prof. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh proposes ‘moving beyond, or even against, what I conceptualise as “the humanitarian grain”, including by exploring what can be gained both analytically and in practical terms by setting aside the ‘humanitarian frame’, and instead focusing on multi-scalar responses to displacement. Going beyond my earlier project to ‘write the Other into humanitarianism’ Listen to the lecture here.
Sept 2022
Drawing on Southern Responses to Displacement’s research, Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, delivered the keynote lecture at the 4th Conference of the German Network for Forced Migration Studies on Wednesday the 28th September 2022. The abstract for her lecture, built in particular on her article, ‘Recentering the South in Studies of Migration.’ For more information about the conference visit our news item here.
July 2022
On the 4th of July 2022 the Southern Responses to Displacement project hosted a roundtable discussion on ‘Critical reflections on ‘Decolonising’ Humanitarianism and Refugee-Related Research.’ Speakers at the event drew on a range of historical, geographical and epistemological perspectives to collectively explore the future of humanitarian practice and research, including how to go beyond the fetishization of ‘decolonising’ humanitarianism and refugee-related research. Together, the speakers explored the opportunities and challenges of developing and actively supporting non-hegemonic ways of producing knowledge in relation to displacement, and the extent to which, and with what effects, the ‘decolonisation’ of humanitarianism and refugee-related research is meaningful or tokenistic in nature.
You can watch a video of the event and read an edited transcript here.
December 2021
On Tuesday 2nd of December 2021 Southern Responses Research Associate, Dr Estella Carpi, spoke at the Izmir University of Economics in Turkey. Dr Carpi’s presentation, ‘The Politics of Aid and Aiding in Lebanon and Turkey’ drew on her research conducted for the Southern Responses to Displacement research project and focused on faith-based humanitarian assistance and the commonalities and dissimilarities across the academic literature relating to war-induced displacement and humanitarianism. You can read more about this here and here.
March 2021
On the 16th of March 2021 Prof. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh delivered a seminar as part of the Yale PRFDHR Spring 2021 Virtual Seminar Series, Prof. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh traces the different ways that residents of Baddawi refugee camp in North Lebanon have been affected by COVID-19 since March 2020, and how they have been responding to protect themselves and other conflict-affected people in the midst of the pandemic.
Also on 16th March 2021, Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh will speak about ‘The Ethics and Politics of Representation’ at the Power and the Politics in/of Ethnographic Research Seminar Series, hosted by University College London.
This seminar is the fourth in a series of events organised by the PAPER project which aims to addresses questions of decoloniality (anti-racism, anti-colonialism, class, (dis)ability, and gender/sexual discrimination) in ethnographic fieldwork.
On Wednesday the 3rd of March at 3pm (GMT) Dr Estella Carpi presented at the ‘Sociology Talks Series’ at Koc Universitesi, Turkey. Her presentation, ‘The Politics of Aid and Aiding in Lebanon and Turkey. What Geography Matters?‘ draws on her research conducted for the Southern Responses to Displacement project and examines how people respond to the ‘political geographies’ that define models of assistance in forced migration settings.
February 2021
On Friday the 12th of February 2021, Southern Responses to Displacement’s PI, Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, joined Juilano Fiori, Head of Humanitarian Studies at Save the Children and Patricia Daley from Oxford University, to discuss ‘Decolonisation in Forced Migration and Humanitarian Response.’
January 2021
On January 21st 2021 at 17.30pm (GMT), Southern Responses to Displacement’s PI, Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh will deliver “Shifting the Gaze: Southern-led Humanitarian Responses to Displacement” for the Mellon Sawyer series: ‘Humanitarians. Migrations and Care through the Global South’ hosted by the Simpson Center, University of Washington. Her presentation will be followed by a graduate seminar on Jan 22nd, in which graduate researchers will lead a discussion with Prof. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh vis-a-vis her longstanding work on “Recentering the South in Studies of Migration”, including her 2020 open access article of that title published in Migration and Society, which you can read here.
November 2020
On the 11th of November 2020, from 9am – 11am, Dr Estella Carpi, Southern Responses to Displacement Research Associate, will present (online) at The University of Melbourne ‘The Politics of Crisis-Making: Neither for Rights, Nor for Needs.’ For more information click here.
July 2020
We are delighted to announce that the Open Access book, Refuge in a Moving World – Tracing Refugee and Migrant Journeys Across Disciplines, edited by Southern Responses to Displacement PI, Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh and including chapters authored by our RA, Dr Estella Carpi, has now been published. Access an Open Access PDF copy of the volume here.
May 2020
On Friday 22 May 2020, Dr. Estella Carpi, Southern Responses Research Associate, will teach a seminar class titled: The Syrian Exodus in Lebanon and Turkey. Humanitarian Aid, Governance and Social Spaces. The event was hosted at the Faculty of Historical, Geographic, and Antiquity Sciences at the University of Padua (Italy).
May 2020
The Southern Responses to Displacement project announced the publication of the Open Access Special Issue 3 of Migration and Society, examining the question of “Recentering the South in Studies of Migration,” is now available to read here. The issue examines this question by asking: What does it mean to “recenter” that which has, and those who have, been placed and kept at the margins? Whose voices and perspectives should be involved in recentering? And to what or who does “the South” refer in such contested domains?
April 2020
Southern Responses to Displacement PI Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh appeared on Channel 4 News to discuss how Covid-19 is impacting people living in poverty around the world. Prof. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh highlights the diversity of national and international responses to the pandemic, including by Low and Middle Income Countries. Drawing on her work on South-South Cooperation and Southern-led responses to displacement, she argues for global solutions based on principles of solidarity to address the global pandemic in ways that are inclusive and socially just.
February 2020
Southern Responses to Displacement Research Associate, Dr Estella Carpi, presented at the Decolonising Humanitarian Aid: Syrian Refugees in the North of Lebanon at SOAS, University of London on the 7th of February 2020.
The conference focused on ‘the situation of Syrian refugees in the North of Lebanon and the urgent need for humanitarian reform in the context of the Syrian crisis.’ The conference defined “Decolonising” humanitarian aid’ as ‘recognising the agency of those who have been displaced and supporting in a spirit of solidarity those who are struggling for the future of their country.’
December 2019
Southern Responses to Displacement PI, Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, delivered her Inaugural Lecture: Refuge in a Moving World: beyond hospitality and hostility on the 10th of December 2019. You can listen to the podcast and view the lecture slides, here.
August 2019
Southern Responses’ PI, Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, participated in the inaugural South-South Forum, Dartmouth College, New Hampshire, held over 3 days from the 13th – 15th of August 2019. Contributing to the workshop roundtable themed ‘In-Between Spaces and Border Ecologies’, and drawing on recent field work conducted for the Southern Responses to Displacement research project in Baddawi Camp, Lebanon, Prof. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh offered reflections on the heterogenous connections that exist between Baddawi and diverse peoples and places across what is often referred to as the Global South.
On Monday 12th August Prof. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh also offered a plenary lecture at Dartmouth College, on past and present forms of Southern-led responses to displacement in and from the Middle East. Her lecture will focus on the Southern Responses to Displacement project’s ongoing research in Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.
June 2019
Southern Responses Principal Investigator, Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh presented the closing keynote speech at the 4th Refugee Law Initiative Annual conference. This year the conference’s special theme was ‘Rethinking the ‘Regional’ in Refugee Law and Policy’ and Prof. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh’s keynote drew on the work of Southern Responses to Displacement project to explore ‘South-South humanitarian responses to displacement: views from the Middle East.’ Access the keynote podcast, here.
May 2019
The Southern Responses to Displacement Team are proud to celebrate the launch of the Routledge Handbook of South-South Relations at UCL’s Institute of Advanced Studies on the 20th of May. The Handbook editors, Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh and Prof. Patricia Daley and a number of contributing authors will discuss the roles ofdecolonial and Southern theories in contemporary research.
April 2019
Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh attended the Rising Powers Workshop at the Institute of Development Studies to present the work of the Routledge Handbook of South-South Relations. The workshop examined was convened in the context of the overarching question: How is the South being recast as result of the interplay between its own Southern powers and other established powers, institutions and ideas in international development?
March 2019
On the 27th of March 2019 at 4pm Southern Responses Research Associate Dr Estella Carpi will offer a lecture at LAU, exploring:
‘The Displacement of Religious Authorities from Syria and their Involvement in Aid Provision: Looking beyond Humanitarianism.’
Jan 2019
Southern Responses to Displacement Research Associate Dr Estella Carpi participated in the Ideas Globally Voices from the South event held at Newspeak House in London on the 9th of January 2019.
Insights from the South is a new event format by IDEAS Globally, to create the space for knowledge exchange between London and the Global South. Authors present insights on key issues in development today, and challenge perspectives of development and North-South relations.
Dec 2018
The Southern Responses to Displacement from Syria team is pleased to announce that the Handbook of South-South Relations (edited by Southern Responses PI, Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, and Prof. Patricia Daley) was published in December 2018. The Handbook includes chapters by Elena and Dr. Estella Carpi (Southern Responses Post-Doctoral Research Associate), and a wide number of other chapters that are of direct relevance to our project.
We look forward to hosting a launch event at UCL in early-2019, where we will discuss and debate different approaches to studying and responding to ‘the South’ in contexts of insecurity, conflict and displacement.
Read an extract from the Introduction, ‘Conceptualising the Global South and South-South Encounters,’ by Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh and Patricia Daley here; a brief reflection by Estella on her chapter, ‘The “Need to Be There”: North-South Encounters and Imaginations in the Humanitarian Economy’ will soon be posted as part of our series here.
Nov 2018
On the 9th of November Prof. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh and Dr Carpi contributed to the Humanising Refugee Research workshop at the School of Geography and the Environment (SoGE), University of Oxford, and shared critical reflections on approaches to refugee research and the roles of decolonial, anticolonial & postcolonial theories and methodologies.
Our Research Associate Dr Estella Carpi attended the “Working Together: Human Rights, the Sustainable Development Goals and Gender Equality” workshop, held at the British Academy, on 12 November 2018 in London. Read her blog post on the workshop here.
Also on the 12th of November, Prof. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh gave a presentation at the Transregional Studies Lecture Series: Emerging Regional Powers and South-South Interventions at the Arnold-Bergstraesser Institute in Germany.
And on the 13th and 14th of November Prof. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh attended the UNHCR consultation in Geneva to discuss the set up of a new academic network as part of the new global compact on refugees.
October 2018
On the 5th and 6th of October, our Research Associate, Dr Estella Carpi, presented her research on “The Displacement of Religious Authorities from Syria and their Involvement in Humanitarian Action” at the Migration, Social Transformation and Differential Inclusion in Turkey Conference organized by the Istanbul Policy Center (Sabanci University).
June 2018
On June 5-7 2018 Southern Responses RA Estella Carpi will present a paper titled ‘The Displacement of Religious Authorities from Syria and its implications for Community Responses to Crisis’ at the Faith Leaders and Communities: Influence, Engagement and Channels of Hope Research Workshop organised by World Vision in Amsterdam.
The Soutern Responses to Displacement team will also convene a panel on ‘Soutern-led Responses to Displacement in the MENA Region at the British Society for Middle Eastern Studies (BRISMES) conference, which will take place at Kings College London.
May 2018
On May 31st 2018, Southern Responses PI Dr Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh and RA Dr Estella Carpi convened a conference as part of the UCL Humanitarian Institute Evening Conference Series on the UN Sustainable Development Goals:
“South-South Humanitarianism: New Aims, Old Challenges”
This event brought together a group of renowned international experts to debate different perspectives on the importance of making the Sustainable Development Goals and the South-South Cooperation framework uphold and actively promote the well-being and dignity of people affected by conflict and displacement across the global South.
February 2018
We are very happy to announce that Sorcha Daly has joined the Southern Responses Team as the Project and Communications Coordinator.
Sorcha will be responsible for the day to day management and administration of the project and will support the research team to ensure that the project’s findings are widely disseminated
December 2017
In December 2017 December, Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh was invited to present insights from her research at the UNHCR High Commissioner’s Dialogue on Protection Challenges.
The UNHCR High Commissioner’s dialogue aimed to help the UN refugees’ agency move forward in drafting the new Global Compact on Refugees which will be presented in 2018. Read Elena’s short blog piece on the conference here.
November 2017
In November 2017, Estella Carpi from the Southern Responses research team participated in the conference “The Politics of Reception. The Syrian Neighbourhood as a Social Field”, organised by the Lebanese American University (LAU)–Byblos and the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA), in Lebanon.
Participants discussed the effect of the international humanitarian apparatus on local and regional systems of governance, and the nature of national responses to Syrian displacement. To read Estella’s blog on the conference click here.
October 2017
The Southern Responses to Displacement team participated in a Global Challenges Research Fund Conference entitled ‘Protracted Conflict, Aid and Development: Research, Policy and Practice’. The conference aimed to examine ways in which Southern led responses complement and, at times, challenge Northern led responses. Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh and Dr Estella Carpi attended the conference at the British Academy in London. Here Dr Carpi reflects on her experience as part of a panel exploring South-South humanitarianism and self-reliance amongst conflict-affected populations. Read the blog, here.
October 2017
The Southern Responses research team participated in a Forum organised by the Partnership in Faith and Development and a wide range of secular and faith-based NGOs, which took place in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
Dr Estella Carpi from the Southern Responses project participated in the displacement and forced migration panel. In her blog post about the conference Dr Estella draws some of the contrasting views of various participants together, providing a starting point for building common ground between secular and faith-based understandings of need and cultures of crisis management. Read more on her blog here.
September 2017
On 14 September 2017, Dr Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh was invited to deliver the keynote address at the recent ODI Disasters Conference, which celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the renowned Disasters journal.
Her keynote (which can be viewed here) addressed key approaches and lenses that have enhanced our understanding in contemporary Disasters Studies, and have helped improve responses to disasters around the world. To read more about key approaches to understanding Southern led responses to crisis relief, take a look at ‘Our Approach’ page here.
September 2017
We are very happy to welcome Dr Estella Carpi as Research Associate on the Southern Responses Project.
Dr Estella’s previous work has focused on displacement, forced migration, social welfare, gender equality, and humanitarian aid provision in the Arab Levant and Turkey. To read more about Dr Estella’s work, click here.
July 2017
We are excited to announce the launch of our ‘Southern Responses’ project, “Analysing South-South Humanitarian Responses to Displacement from Syria: Views from Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey”.
Funded by the European Research Council and led by UCL’s Dr Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, the Southern Responses project builds upon Dr. Elena’s long-standing research into ‘South-South humanitarianism’. Read more about her research here.
Southern Responses to Displacement 