IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/ctwqxx/v41y2020i2p284-301.html

A call for critical reflection on the localisation agenda in humanitarian action

Author

Listed:
  • Kristina Roepstorff

Abstract

Calls for a greater inclusion of local actors have featured for some time in debates on how to make humanitarian action more efficient and address unequal power relations within the humanitarian system. Though the localisation agenda is at the core of current reform efforts in the humanitarian sector, the debate lacks a critical discussion of underlying assumptions – most strikingly, the very conceptualisation of the local itself. It is argued that the current discourse is dominated by a problematic conceptualisation of the local in binary opposition to the international, leading to blind spots in the analysis of exclusionary practices of the humanitarian sector. As such the localisation agenda risks perpetuating the very issues it wants to redress. A critical localism is thus proposed as a framework for much needed research on the localisation agenda.

Suggested Citation

  • Kristina Roepstorff, 2020. "A call for critical reflection on the localisation agenda in humanitarian action," Third World Quarterly, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 41(2), pages 284-301, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:ctwqxx:v:41:y:2020:i:2:p:284-301
    DOI: 10.1080/01436597.2019.1644160
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/01436597.2019.1644160
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/01436597.2019.1644160?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Samantha Melis & Raymond Apthorpe, 2020. "The Politics of the Multi-Local in Disaster Governance," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(4), pages 366-374.
    2. Mark Opoku Amankwa & Gladys Nangira Murruka & Kwadwo Adusei‐Asante & Vicki Frances Banham & Clement Amponsah & Emmanuel Enyinful, 2026. "Culture, Community, and Development: Unpacking the ‘Socio‐Cultural Milieu Dynamics’ of Solomon Islands and Their Influence on Australia's Aid Localisation," Public Administration & Development, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 46(1), pages 77-92, February.
    3. Samantha Melis & Raymond Apthorpe, 2020. "The Politics of the Multi-Local in Disaster Governance," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(4), pages 366-374.
    4. Chris Roche & John Cox & Mereani Rokotuibau & Peni Tawake & Yeshe Smith, 2020. "The Characteristics of Locally Led Development in the Pacific," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(4), pages 136-146.
    5. Rosanne Anholt, 2020. "Resilience in Practice: Responding to the Refugee Crisis in Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(4), pages 294-305.
    6. Mrudhula Koshy & David Smith, 2024. "Community resilience implications for institutional response under uncertainty: Cases of the floods in Wayanad, India and the earthquake in Port‐au‐Prince, Haiti," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(2), pages 1412-1427, April.
    7. Fujita, Y. & Sabogal Camargo, A.M., 2021. "Perspective of localization of aid during COVID-19," ISS Working Papers - General Series 673, International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam (ISS), The Hague.
    8. Swetha Ramachandran, 2023. "Unravelling aid funding: Linking funding allocation patterns and localization in Sierra Leone," WIDER Working Paper Series wp-2023-105, World Institute for Development Economic Research (UNU-WIDER).
    9. Susan P. Murphy & Maeve McGandy, 2026. "Localisation and Locally Led Development in the Post-consensus Era: Transformation, Stagnation, or Annihilation?," The European Journal of Development Research, Palgrave Macmillan;European Association of Development Research and Training Institutes (EADI), vol. 38(2), pages 191-215, April.
    10. O'Leary, Susan & Dinh, Tami & Frueh, Seraina, 2023. "Affirmative otherness in a humanitarian NGO: Implications for accountability as responsiveness," Accounting, Organizations and Society, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    11. Anastasios Andronikidis & Amalia Kouskoura & Eleni Kalliontzi & Ioannis Bakouros, 2025. "The embeddedness of responsible research innovation in Sabadell’s territorial policies: the case of smart specialization in industrial systems," Journal of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 1-24, December.
    12. Ingrid Mazzilli & Héloïse Berkowitz & Sihem Mammar El Hadj, 2025. "Intermediation Work for Localization: The Role of a Place‐Based and Multi‐Stakeholder Meta‐Organization," Post-Print hal-05381707, HAL.
    13. Awino Okech & Shereen Essof & Laura Carlsen, 2022. "Movement building responses to COVID-19: lessons from the JASS mobilisation fund," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 39(1), pages 249-269, April.
    14. Banks, Nicola & Bukenya, Badru & Elbers, Willem & Kamya, Innocent & Kumi, Emmanuel & Schulpen, Lau & van Selm, Gijs & van Wessel, Margit & Yeboah, Thomas, 2026. "Power and its discontents: The long road to systemic change in the aid sector," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    15. Chris Roche & John Cox & Mereani Rokotuibau & Peni Tawake & Yeshe Smith, 2020. "The Characteristics of Locally Led Development in the Pacific," Politics and Governance, Cogitatio Press, vol. 8(4), pages 136-146.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:ctwqxx:v:41:y:2020:i:2:p:284-301. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/ctwq .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.