About the Project

Since World War II, humanitarianism has catalysed academic and societal interest, becoming a cornerstone of public and political life in the Global North, with forced migration being a major issue of debate. In a context of increasingly questioned role of humanitarianism as a whole and as a response to forced migration, scant space has been devoted to the emotions that receiving aid triggers in the aid-receiving refugee population, and how these emotional engagements shape the intimacy of refugees’ families and their political response to the humanitarian apparatus. By decentering the concept of humanitarianism, HUMEPI wishes to analyse local forms of humanitarianism, with a specific interest in the emotional involvement by actors and how it plays in shaping power-relations on the ground. 

To what extent refugees’ emotions in relation to receiving aid influence power-balance within and across their families (the politics of intimacy)5 and shape their political relationships to the humanitarian apparatus? What difference does it make to humanitarian practice? 

HUMEPI will focus on the Sahelian Malian crisis, an emblematic example of contemporary long- term humanitarian involvment, from the perspective of Kel Tamasheq refugee women in Mauritania. 

This project is developed across three universities: the Geneva Graduate Institute with his CCDP, the Unviersity of Geneva with its Swiss Centre for Affective Studies (CISA), and the University of Al Aasryia (Nouakchott). It will also articulate in cooperation with the NGO Comitato Internazionale per lo Sviluppo dei Popoli (CISP), now operating in Mauritania. 

• Timeline: 2026-2028 
• Funding organisation: Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions