Diaspora Humanitarianism: A Comprehensive Review of Existing Literature and Emerging Issues
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.53819/81018102t4407Abstract
Diaspora humanitarianism the range of practices through which dispersed communities mobilise resources, knowledge, and solidarity to assist crisis-affected populations in their countries or regions of origin has moved from the margins to the centre of humanitarian scholarship and practice over the past decade. This article synthesises a cross-section of recent conceptual, empirical, and policy literature to map the field's principal debates, from the effectiveness case for diaspora engagement, through the ethical and theoretical reframing of humanitarianism around relationality and care, to the digital transformation of diaspora giving and organising. Drawing on case material from Congolese refugee communities in Nairobi, Somali diaspora networks spanning the Horn of Africa and Europe, and Australia-based diaspora responders, the review identifies four cross-cutting themes: comparative advantage and speed of response; the inadequacy of universalist humanitarian principles for capturing diaspora motivations; the reconfiguration of “near” and “far” diaspora relations through digital platforms; and the persistent coordination gap between diaspora actors and the formal humanitarian system. The article closes by identifying emerging issues digital financial infrastructures, gendered patterns of engagement, protracted-crisis fatigue, and the institutionalisation of diaspora engagement frameworks that constitute a research agenda for the field, and reflects briefly on how Islamic ethical concepts of amanah (trusteeship) and ummah solidarity offer an additional interpretive perspective for diaspora humanitarian obligation in Muslim-majority displacement contexts.
Keywords: Diaspora humanitarianism, relational humanitarianism, digital diaspora, near-far diaspora, humanitarian infrastructures, Somalia, Congolese refugees, Nairobi
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