The DOI matches its Crossref record.
Panacea for the refugee crisis? Rethinking the promotion of ‘self-reliance’ for refugees
Abstract
This article provides a critical examination of the current extensive promotion of ‘self-reliance’ for refugees. The existing scholarship largely ignores the unsuccessful historical record of international assistance to foster refugees’ self-reliance and fails to discuss its problematic linkages to neoliberalism and the notion of ‘dependency’. The article reveals that the current conceptualisation and practice of self-reliance are largely shaped by the priorities of international donors that aim to create cost-effective exit strategies from long-term refugee populations. The authors argue that where uncritically interpreted and applied, the promotion of self-reliance can result in unintended and undesirable consequences for refugees’ well-being and protection.
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“It should be noted that the notion of 'dependency syndrome' has been heavily critiqued, and its 'myth' largely debunked.Scholars have shown that ideas of aid dependency among refugee populations inaccurately portray the intricate social and agentic strategies that people employ to survive in conditions of adversity, as well as overestimate the extent to which aid provision effectively reaches”
From Throwing therapy at the problem mental health and humanitarian intervention in Palabek refugee settlement, northern Uganda (2023) · cites this paper as Easton-Calabria and Omata 2018
In the citing paper
“The adoption of the settlement model, in Uganda and elsewhere, is the result of a shift in the conceptualisation of refugee camps which began in the 1980s, in reaction to criticisms claiming that the encampment approach to refugee management was detrimental to communities' livelihoods, ignoring refugees' wishes and capacity to self-determine and provide for themselves (e.g., Harrell-Bond 1986),”
From Throwing therapy at the problem mental health and humanitarian intervention in Palabek refugee settlement, northern Uganda (2023) · cites this paper as Easton-Calabria and Omata 2018
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Research works printed but not linked: 58
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Torre, C. (2023) · London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) · doi:10.21953/lse.00004557
Metadata
- Authors
- Easton-Calabria, E., & Omata, N.
- Affiliations
- Refugee Studies Centre, Department of International Development, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
- University of Oxford (GB)
- ORCID
- Omata, Naohiko
- Venue
- Third World Quarterly
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2018-04-26
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- 8
- Pages
- 1458-1474
- ISSN
- 0143-6597 (ISSN-L)
- 1360-2241
- OpenAlex
- W2801716213
- Cited by
- 315
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 16 · 2025: 37 · 2024: 30 · 2023: 152 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 16 · 2020: 27 · 2019: 15 · 2018: 2
- FWCI
- 34.08
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Third World Quarterly (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Migration, Refugees, and Integration
- Social Sciences › Law › Migration, Racism, and Human Rights
- Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Migration and Exile Studies
- Keywords
- refugee self-reliance, refugee crisis, neoliberalism, dependency, foreign aid, refugee protection, refugee well-being, exit strategy, refugee resettlement, humanitarian policy
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- CoChat. (2026). Citation check: Panacea for the refugee crisis? Rethinking the promotion of ‘self-reliance’ for refugees. https://app.cochat.ai/papers/10.1080/01436597.2018.1458301
- The paper
- Easton-Calabria, E., & Omata, N. (2018). Panacea for the refugee crisis? Rethinking the promotion of ‘self-reliance’ for refugees. Third World Quarterly. https://doi.org/10.1080/01436597.2018.1458301
