Through the application of Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA)— and paying extra attention to the utilization of ideological squaring, actor descriptions, and lexicalization— this thesis aims to discuss the Church of Sweden’s “official” discourse regarding its humanitarian and social engagement with refugees and refugee issues the year 2017. Wherein, the author attempts to discuss what the collected material— from the internet-based function Support migration, and personal semi-structured interviews with Church personnel— can tell one about the Church’s views on its self-identity, social engagement, as well as ecumenical and interreligious relations, in an increasingly diverse Swedish society. Central for this thesis is how ideology functions, and how “us and them” divisions are constructed, within the discourse, regarding the Church’s refugee work. It can be argued that a key finding of this thesis is how the Church’s discourse generally sets itself against popular contemporary categorizations of refugees as threats, in addition to classic “us and them” distinctions that often serve to demonize the religious and cultural other— which have become observable within contemporary debates regarding refugees in the Global North. Instead, it could be argued that, at least regarding these issues, the Church of Sweden provides an alternative and critical voice in these matters. However, “us and them” divisions can still be observable. Where, for instance the “us” of the Church that is presented as a moral force in society— which has a responsibility to guard human dignity— is set in opposition against “them”, which are depicted as external marginalized voices which threaten both its mission and identity.

Lors de l’été 1968, des images d’enfants décharnés, souffrant de maladies dues à la malnutrition affluent dans les médias occidentaux. Elles proviennent de la région sud orientale de la Fédération du Nigeria, qui a déclaré son indépendance une année auparavant sous le nom de République du Biafra, où se déroule une guerre civile qui oppose les troupes fédérales aux indépendantistes biafrais. L’émotion suscitée en Occident par les représentations du conflit et de la famine qui l’accompagne engendre la mobilisation de diverses organisations humanitaires, qui mettent sur pied des opérations de secours internationales destinées aux populations civiles. Encore peu étudiées par l’historiographie, la crise du Biafra et les réponses qui y sont apportées par les acteurs occidentaux sont l’objet de cette thèse. La recherche examine tout d’abord comment une guerre civile africaine prend la dimension d’une crise humanitaire internationale. Pour ce faire, elle analyse tant la situation sur place que les acteurs de son internationalisation et ses représentations. Ensuite, afin d’appréhender les opérations de secours dans leur complexité la thèse étudie le processus d’élaboration et le déploiement des réponses occidentales à la crise, ainsi que leur réception au Nigeria dans un contexte post-colonial. Enfin, la thèse questionne les principaux éléments qui ont fait du Biafra un moment charnière de l’histoire de l’humanitaire et met en lumière les reconfigurations des discours et des pratiques de l’aide humanitaire qui s’opèrent à la fin des années 1960. / In the summer of 1968, pictures of emaciated children, suffering from diseases due to malnutrition, poured in western medias. They came from the eastern region of the Federation of Nigeria, which had proclaimed its independence one year before and taken the name of the Republic of Biafra. War and famine that were taking place in the region generated widespread concern in the West, where humanitarian organizations decided to set up international relief operations to help alleviate the suffering of the civilian population. Still understudied by the historiography, the crisis in Biafra and the mobilization of western organizations are the subjects of this PhD. Firstly, the dissertation examines how an African civil war became an international humanitarian crisis. To this purpose, it analyses the situation in the ground, the actors of its internationalization and how it was represented. Secondly, in order to grasp the complexity of humanitarian aid, the dissertation studies the elaboration and the deployment of the relied operations, as well as their reception in Nigeria in a post-colonial context. Finally, the thesis questions why Biafra is usually considered as a turning point in the history of humanitarianism. By so doing, it sheds light on the reconfigurations of the discourses and practices of humanitarian aid that took place in the late 1960’s.

Cette thèse est le résultat d’une enquête documentaire et ethnographique prenant pour objet les acteurs du système de l’aide internationale en Haïti entre 2010 et 2016 ainsi que leurs interactions structurées dans l’objectif de faire une sociologie politique de la gestion des crises dans ce pays. L’enquête montre notamment que la multiplication et l’enchevêtrement des domaines de spécialisation de ces acteurs a produit une « bureaucratie de l’urgence » parallèle à l’État haïtien, ce qui entraîne des superpositions et des incohérences dans la gestion et la prévention des crises. Je présente le travail de cette bureaucratie pour gouverner l’humanitaire comme un art de gouvernement. L’apport principal de cette thèse est de montrer que cet art de gouvernement s’exerce tant sur les humanitaires eux-mêmes que sur les bénéficiaires de l’aide, bien que de manières différentes. / This PhD-thesis is an ethnographic study of the actors of the aid system and of their interactions within the humanitarian system in Haïti between 2010 and 2016. It is also a work based on the documentary review of the more global humanitarian reform dynamics, Haïti being a test zone for these dynamics. The objective of this dissertation is to make a political sociology of crisis management in this country. My study especially shows that the emergence of many juxtaposed sectors of specialization among these actors has led to the creation of a “bureaucracy of emergency management”, which works as a parallel governing force, away from the Haitian state, and thus leads to inconsistencies in crisis management and prevention. I analyze the work done by this bureaucracy to govern the humanitarian world as an art of government. My major argument here is to show that this art of government weighs on humanitarian actors as much as on aid beneficiaries, although in differing ways.

<p>The thesis examines the international refugee protection system in order to discover whether or not the system constitutes an international regime, as defined by international relations literature. To do so, it formulates a theoretical framework combining neoliberal and constructivist approaches to regime theory. It closely examines the legal documents that provide the normative and procedural framework of the protection system (such as the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, various regional agreements, as well as certain human rights documents) and discusses the legal, political, and moral obligation that these documents instill upon the member states of the protection system. It evaluates the principles, norms, rules, and decision- making procedures provided by the system, and compares them to the necessary criteria of an international regime in neoliberal theory. The purpose of trying to discover whether the refugee system constitutes an international regime is to show that if it is a regime, states are no longer afforded the full freedom of action and decision-making under the doctrine of sovereignty and that they have a certain level of obligation to abide by regime rules and help in the upkeep of the regime. After showing that the system constitutes a ‘strong promotional’ international regime, it discusses the importance of the regime within the international state system. It evaluates how it brings about cooperation and increasedstability within the regime, and lowers the costs of bargaining in order to bring about mutual gains for regime members. The thesis then examines the pre- and post-entry restrictive measures used by countries and attempts to prove whether or not the use of the measures constitutes a change in, or of, the regime, or a potential weakening of the regime. The thesis concludes that while the refugee regime itself is not changing, there is increasing incoherence between the proscribed behaviour of the regime and state action, which translates into a weakening of the regime. The regime analysis discusses the role the refugee protection regime plays within the international system as a whole and how this role is evolving through the use of restrictive measures.</p>

The thesis examines the international refugee protection system in order to discover whether or not the system constitutes an international regime, as defined by international relations literature. To do so, it formulates a theoretical framework combining neoliberal and constructivist approaches to regime theory. It closely examines the legal documents that provide the normative and procedural framework of the protection system (such as the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees, various regional agreements, as well as certain human rights documents) and discusses the legal, political, and moral obligation that these documents instill upon the member states of the protection system. It evaluates the principles, norms, rules, and decision- making procedures provided by the system, and compares them to the necessary criteria of an international regime in neoliberal theory. The purpose of trying to discover whether the refugee system constitutes an international regime is to show that if it is a regime, states are no longer afforded the full freedom of action and decision-making under the doctrine of sovereignty and that they have a certain level of obligation to abide by regime rules and help in the upkeep of the regime. After showing that the system constitutes a ‘strong promotional’ international regime, it discusses the importance of the regime within the international state system. It evaluates how it brings about cooperation and increasedstability within the regime, and lowers the costs of bargaining in order to bring about mutual gains for regime members. The thesis then examines the pre- and post-entry restrictive measures used by countries and attempts to prove whether or not the use of the measures constitutes a change in, or of, the regime, or a potential weakening of the regime. The thesis concludes that while the refugee regime itself is not changing, there is increasing incoherence between the proscribed behaviour of the regime and state action, which translates into a weakening of the regime. The regime analysis discusses the role the refugee protection regime plays within the international system as a whole and how this role is evolving through the use of restrictive measures.

Large-scale humanitarian crises in foreign countries raise the question of whether or not other countries have a duty to alleviate that suffering. In extreme cases, humanitarian intervention, that is: military intervention for the purpose of alleviating human suffering, is sometimes advocated as the morally required course of action. This thesis suggests that while the international community has a general moral responsibility to prevent and ameliorate humanitarian crises there is no simple duty of military humanitarian intervention. Hitherto, the question has typically been treated as a matter of either moral or legal principle. This thesis argues that empirical factors, which affect the international community's ability to carry out interventions effectively, have not been given their due weight in the debate. On the basis of evaluations of international responses to crises in Somalia and Rwanda, 1992 - 1994, it is suggested that a range of factors undermine the efficacy of humanitarian interventions. These factors include the impact of state interests, the effects of domestic politics in intervening states and, contrary to expectations, the role of humanitarian considerations in decision making on intervention. By showing the limitations of a simplistic view of a duty of humanitarian intervention the thesis seeks to contribute to reconciling idealism with realism in international crisis-responses. Based on sound moral and political judgment military interventions in humanitarian crises would hopefully be less ambitious and ultimately more effective.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (University of Texas Digital Repository, viewed on August 5, 2009). Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 377-408).

After more than 50 years of internal armed conflict, Colombia has entered into a stage of postconflict after a peace agreement was signed in 2016. This process will be challenging for the country, as the conflict has created increased poverty and segregation as well as a lack of opportunities for those that have been affected by the conflict. This thesis collects perceptions of international humanitarian actors working in the Colombian context, and their perception on how humanitarian action can be used to strengthen the Colombian post-conflict process. Through a theoretical standpoint of Institutionalization Before Liberalization (IBL) theory by Roland Paris (2004), the findings were collected. Key findings include the need to recognize the humanitarian needs in Colombia despite the conflict ending, the importance of building knowledge in society about the peace agreement and make room for transition of experience and knowledge from the humanitarian field to the government and development actors. Analysing the findings, it shows that Colombia’s current peace transition would be furthered by strengthening the nation’s institutions and making long-term strategies on how to create electoral and societal systems that would unite and reconcile the population. It also shows that while the IBL theory is applicable to the Colombian post-conflict process, it fails to capture educational components that are deemed essential by the interviewed organizations. The thesis concludes that humanitarian organizations should be viewed as pivotal actors for the implementation of the Colombian peace agreement and that the Colombian government and international donors needs to put aside long-term resources and time to create a post-conflict society that will foster guarantees of the armed conflict not returning to Colombia.

The legal humanitarian regime, set out in the Geneva Conventions and Additional Protocols, strives to alleviate human suffering through the provision of emergency goods and services, such as food supplies, water, temporary shelter, and medical treatment. This thesis examines how international non-government organizations (INGOs) contribute to the contestation of this regime in political emergencies, the effects of this contestation, and the factors driving INGO contestation. The thesis develops an analytical framework for understanding the nature and functioning of the legal humanitarian regime, and argues that INGO contestation occurs through the two processes of regime interpretation and regime implementation. It then goes on to identify the substantive content and effects of contestation, and the factors driving INGO contestation of the regime, through a detailed study of the policies and practices of CARE, Médecins Sans Frontiers, Oxfam, and World Vision, in Afghanistan and Sri Lanka, from 1990-2010. The thesis argues that contestation has constitutive effects, as it re-defines the meaning of the formal humanitarian regime, and the underlying rules and norms that specify the regime’s function, scope, and operating principles. Contestation also has causal effects, as it can make INGOs participants in the conflict, eroding thereby the basis on which they negotiate access and their ability to respond to humanitarian needs, and the security of their staff. It has also facilitated the subordination of humanitarian assistance by donor states and combatants to their political and security objectives. INGO identity - expressed in terms of the constituent rules and norms that define INGO membership, their mandate and goals, and the manner in which they distinguish themselves from other actors - is argued to be a necessary factor for explaining INGO contestation. The focus on identity highlights the agency of INGOs in shaping the humanitarian regime and demonstrates that INGOs are not simply at the mercy of more powerful actors or external constraints.

Increasingly, we hear that the humanitarian system has exhausted its potential and is over the abyss. The volume of funds, the number of humanitarian organizations and the number of rescued people are growing year after year. Nevertheless, the gap between needs and real humanitarian assistance is steadily increasing. Traditional humanitarian actors have been unsuccessfully looking for ways to repair the system that once worked well. Attempts at financial and institutional reform fail, and the debate on humanitarian principles annoys the main actors. This work shows that the traditional humanitarian system is only a part of the larger ecosystem of humanitarian assistance, and analyzes the external influences it fails to cope with in the last decade, and why minor repairs and corrections are not enough and a new system architecture is needed. The author identifies new humanitarian actors with whom the traditional system does not count and points to spontaneous volunteers as a group with dynamic potential and ability to create a parallel system to professional disaster and emergency managers. Since it is an undervalued and overlooked actor, the author refines the definition of spontaneous volunteering. Using the case studies of the Cajun Navy in Louisiana (U.S.) and the confessions of medical rescuers...