Humanitarians at sea

Selective emulation across migrant rescue NGOs in the Mediterranean sea

Bibliographic Data

ID12532295
AuthorsEugenio Cusumano (0000-0002-7349-6639, Institute for History, Faculty of Humanities, University of Leiden, Leiden, The Netherlands, corresponding author)
Year2019
Volume40
Issue2
Pages239-262
Publication date2019-01-03
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueArms Control (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0144-0381 • E-ISSN: 1743-8764
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/13523260.2018.1558879
OpenAlexW2907864776
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited38

Between 2014 and 2017, no less than 10 different non-governmental organizations (NGOs) conducted maritime Search and Rescue (SAR) operations off the coast of Libya. By rescuing over 100,000 migrants in three years, these NGOs became the largest provider of SAR in the Mediterranean. The theory of institutionalism suggests that organizations conducting similar activities are likely to converge in a process of mimetic isomorphism, deliberately imitating one another to increase their effectiveness and cope with uncertainty. These 10 SAR NGOs, however, developed two different rescue models: While some rescued migrants and disembarked them in Italian ports, others only simply assisted those in distress until the arrival of another ship transporting them to land. They also cooperated with Italian and European authorities to different degrees. Why did SAR NGOs imitated many elements of existing non-governmental rescue models, but discarded some others? This article argues that differences in material capabilities and organizational role conceptions are crucial to explain why newer SAR NGOs have imitated most but not all of their predecessors’ policies, engaging in a process of “selective emulation.”

Archaeology · Business · Economic growth · Economics · Emulation · Geography · Intermediary · Mediterranean climate · Mediterranean sea · Political science · Process (computing · Search and rescue · Computer Science · Disaster Management and Resilience · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Peacebuilding and International Security · Artificial Intelligence · Marketing