Who needs the experts? The politics and practices of alternative humanitarianism in Greece and its relationship to NGOs

Ishkanian, Armine ORCID: 0000-0002-6449-8966 and Shutes, Isabel ORCID: 0000-0002-5325-3541 (2021) Who needs the experts? The politics and practices of alternative humanitarianism in Greece and its relationship to NGOs. Voluntas: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations. ISSN 0957-8765

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Abstract

Drawing on fieldwork in Greece, we examine the politics and practices of autonomous volunteering in the context of the migration crisis. This involves individuals engaging in activities to support migrants through non-registered, self-organized and self-governed groups that work independent from and in some cases, even in opposition to NGOs. We consider autonomous volunteering as a form of collective action and argue that it constitutes an alternative humanitarianism. While recent literature has sought to identify the rise of emergent practices of alternative humanitarianism in Europe, research has often overlooked how autonomous volunteers distinguish themselves from, relate to and collaborate with NGOs and conversely, how NGOs view and engage with them. We found that despite their critiques of NGOs and their determination to work independently, there were instances of cooperation between autonomous volunteers and NGOs. These interactions did not become substantive alliances, as the work of NGOs and autonomous volunteers continued to be disconnected from each other.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	https://www.springer.com/journal/11266
Additional Information:	© The Author(s)
Divisions:	Social Policy
Subjects:	J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration J Political Science > JZ International relations H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
Date Deposited:	14 Apr 2021 11:12
Last Modified:	16 Nov 2024 08:24
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/109867

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