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 access an English, Spanish and Arabic translation of the Roundtable here.
Or listen to a podcast of the event below:
On Tuesday 23rd March 2021 Southern Responses to Displacement PI, Prof. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, participated in the IMISCOE 2021 Spring Conference, ‘Messaging Migration and Mobility.’ Prof. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh’s presentation examined dominant mainstream humanitarian narratives and representations of refugees.
For more information, including a recommended reading list, click here.
In conversation with Prof. Patricia Daley and Dr Ammar Azzouz, Prof. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh will drew on insights from the Southern Responses to Displacement’s research project to discuss ‘The Politics of Forced Migration Research’ at the IASFM18 Conference: Disrupting Theory, Unsettling Practice on the 26th of July 2021.
For more information, including a recommended reading list, click here.
Prof. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh presents on ‘The Ethics and Politics of Representation’: On 16 March 2021, Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh spoke about ‘The Ethics and Politics of Representation’ at the Power and the Politics in/of Ethnographic Research Seminar Series, hosted by University College London.
You can watch the presentation here.
On the 25th of March 2021 Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh took part in a panel discussion reflecting on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on migration, migrants and refugees. The conference provided ‘the opportunity for researchers, policy-makers, and other professionals involved in the field of migration and displacement to share knowledge and new directions in research and practice’ and the panel discussed what policy and practice lessons should be learned for the post pandemic era.
To watch and read more from Prof. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh on the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and how refugees themselves respond to the pandemic click here.
On Wednesday the 3rd of March at 3pm (GMT) Dr Estella Carpi presents 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.
A detailed abstract for the presentation, in addition to some recommended reading by Dr Carpi, can be found here.
Prof. Fiddian-Qasmiyeh presents at Yale on ‘Refugee-led Responses to Overlapping Precarity: Views from North Lebanon’: In this seminar, which is part 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.
You can watch the seminar below:
Disasters at 40 Conference: Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Southern Responses’ PI, was invited to offer the forward-looking Keynote Address at the Disasters at 40 Conference convened by ODI in London, September 2017. Watch her Keynote below, and read more about her Keynote here.
UNHCR 2017 High Commissioner’s Dialogue: On Tuesday 12 December, Prof. Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh was invited to present insights from her research at the UNHCR High Commissioner’s Dialogue on Protection Challenges.
As one of four panelists discussing ‘Reception and Admission’, she spoke alongside H.E. Ambassador Mr. Boudjemâa Delm (Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations), H.E. Ambassador Antje Leendertse (Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Germany to the United Nations), and Mr. Jan Egeland (Secretary General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, former UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, and head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs).
You can read the text of Elena’s presentation, which highlighted the roles played by Southern-based local communities (including local faith communities) and refugees as key responders in displacement, here.
Southern Responses to Displacement 