Evan Easton‐calabria
Biographic Data
| ID | 1405204 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Evan Easton‐calabria |
| GIVEN NAMES | Evan |
| FAMILY NAME | Easton‐calabria |
| SIGNATURE | CALABRIA E E |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Oxford |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-9417-181X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 24 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 128 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 24 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2014 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 6 |
Risk-Taking, Risk-Making
This article explores how different notions and manifestations of risk and uncertainty shape discussions on, and processes of, humanitarian localisation in relation to refugee-led organisations (RLOs). Focusing on South Sudanese RLOs in Uganda and their engagements with international funders and agencies, we argue that the very measures undertaken by INGOs and donors to mitigate their perceived risks of localisation in fact require their supposed…
Managing’ the paradox
The refugee self-reliance agenda is marked by tensions and contradictions, echoing wider incoherence in the international refugee regime. We explore these through the philosophical concept of paradoxes. Paradoxes allow for multiple interests and narratives to be simultaneously ‘true’, leading to refugee policy outcomes that are often incoherent by omission instead of commission. To illustrate this, we draw on recent empirical studies to examine h…
Internal localisation’ and early action
Based on in-depth qualitative research, this article explores the process of a United Nations (UN) early action intervention in response to extreme flooding in South Sudan in 2022. Drawing on the experiences of UN staff who designed, implemented and oversaw the process, it identifies parallels with issues raised in broader discussions on humanitarian localisation. It presents the analytical concept of ‘internal localisation’ to highlight the need…
Possibilities and limitations of anticipatory action in complex crises
Little evidence exists on the design and implementation of anticipatory action (AA) in complex crises. This article examines a 2022 United Nations 'early action' pilot in South Sudan in advance of extreme flooding. As a case study of efforts to act in a complex crisis, it contributes to learning on assisting conflict-affected and displaced populations in advance of extreme weather events. The research points towards the possibility and value of i…
Beyond the forecast
Although conflict-affected populations are often exposed to and severely impacted by disasters, little is known about their perceptions and practices concerning early warning and early action (EWEA) or how EWEA strategies can protect communities affected by conflict- and climate-related disasters. This is particularly problematic as, due to the multiple challenges posed by conflict and compound crises in these contexts, early warnings of weather …
Digital Responsibility
This op-ed outlines key issues humanitarians should consider when assessing their ‘digital responsibility’ to foster digital refugee livelihoods. This includes in particular the need to develop robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks of outcomes of digital livelihoods trainings for refugees – and spaces for critical engagement with the results of such evaluations, including stopping digital livelihoods programming when risks outweigh benefits…
Refugees in the Digital Economy
The current scale and duration of displacement prompts renewed urgency about livelihoods prospects for displaced people and the role of humanitarian organisations in fostering them. This special issue focuses on how aid organisations, together with the private sector and other actors, have worked to include refugees in new forms of online work within the web-based digital economy. Building on comparative analysis and a comprehensive review of the…
Refugees, Self-Reliance, Development
Evan Easton-Calabria’s critical history of refugee self-reliance assistance brings new dimensions to refugee and international development studies. The promotion of refugee self-reliance is evident today, yet its history remains largely unexplored, with good practices and longstanding issues often missed. Through archival and contemporary evidence, this book documents a century of little-known efforts to foster refugee self-reliance, including th…
Refugees, Self-reliance, Development
With five case studies from Greece, Tanzania, Pakistan, Uganda, and Egypt, this book tracks refugee self-reliance as a malleable concept used to pursue ulterior interests. It reshapes understandings of refugee self-reliance and delivers important messages for contemporary policymaking.
Managing multiple hazards
In the face of climate change, development and humanitarian practitioners increasingly recognize the need to anticipate and manage multiple, concurrent risks. One prominent example of this increasing focus on anticipation is the rapid growth of Forecast-based Financing (FbF), in particular within Red Cross and Red Crescent (RCRC). To evaluate how anticipatory efforts managed multiple compounding risks during the COVID-19 pandemic, we examine how …
Localising Refugee Assistance
Drawing on 70 interviews with humanitarians, members of governments, and civil society organisations, including refugee-led organisations, from major refugee-hosting countries in 2020 and 2021, this article explores the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on humanitarian localisation and international refugee commitments, notably the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR). It highlights the work and widening recognition of refugee-led organisations during …
Combining Computational and Archival Methods to Study International Organizations
Researchers studying international organizations have access to growing and varied archives due to digitization efforts. While developments in computational methods confer efficiency gains for examining these materials at scale, they raise concerns about their validity when applied to interpretive tasks in historical settings. In response, we present a general and flexible workflow that uses simple computational techniques from linguistics to enh…
The effectiveness of forecast-based humanitarian assistance in anticipation of extreme winters
This paper presents evidence relating to a forecast-based cash and non-food item distribution among vulnerable herder households during the 2017-18 dzud (extreme winter) season in Mongolia, and analyses the results of a quasi-experimental study evaluating its impacts. An innovative approach in disaster risk reduction, forecast-based financing (FbF) can have short- and long-term benefits to vulnerable households but remains understudied. The paper…
The Rhetoric and Reality of Localisation
When refugees flee war and persecution, protection and assistance are usually provided by United Nations organisations and their NGO implementing partners. In parallel is a largely neglected story: refugees themselves frequently mobilise to provide protection and assistance to other refugees. At a global level, there has been a shift in international policy rhetoric towards ‘localisation’ and inclusion of refugees, which potentially provides an o…
Bridging, bonding, and linking? Syrian refugee-led organisations and integration in Berlin
In this article, we analyse Syrian refugee-led organisations and initiatives in Berlin, Germany, including those led by individuals, small groups or as part of religious institutions, to understand their role in the integration process for Syrians. We draw on a framework of refugee integration to examine the role of bridging, bonding, and linking in fostering social connections. We argue that the types of social connections these organisations ai…
The Global Governed
When refugees flee war and persecution, protection and assistance are usually provided by United Nations organisations and their NGO implementing partners. In camps and cities, the dominant humanitarian model remains premised upon a provider-beneficiary relationship. In parallel to this model, however, is a largely neglected story: refugees themselves frequently mobilise to create organisations or networks as alternative providers of social prote…
OUP accepted manuscript
This article presents a case study of the urban internally displaced people (IDP) response in Adama, Ethiopia, the former capital of the Oromia region. In 2018, approximately 1,340 registered households and many unregistered IDPs, who were mainly ethnic Oromo, arrived in Adama. Most of the IDPs arrived by way of a planned relocation scheme from camps, having fled ethnic conflict in the Somali region of the country. The article provides an overvie…
Localising Public Health
In praise of dependencies
Reconceiving or reframing the humanitarian consequences of displacement in terms of 'dispersed dependencies', a term drawn from the field of mental health, sheds light on the disruptive experience of displacement and on affected individuals' relations with other displaced people, hosts, states and humanitarian actors. Dependency for a person is neither a problem nor abnormal; independence is in effect about having a viable set of dispersed depend…
Old Concepts Making New History
Although not new topics in the field of refugee studies, self-reliance, livelihoods and entrepreneurship have recently taken on a heightened emphasis. However, critical questions remain regarding how and by whom self-reliance is defined and measured, and the intended and unintended outcomes of historical and contemporary efforts to foster it. This introductory article highlights key points arising from the Special Issue and presents a short histo…
Warriors of Self-reliance
In striking contrast to most other refugee groups, Afghan refugees in Pakistan during the 1980s have primarily been understood as a successfully self-reliant population. However, little work has hitherto focused on the international assistance programmes that sought to support their everyday self-reliance. Drawing on extensive archival research, this article presents four phases of self-reliance assistance for Afghan refugees in Pakistan between …
Panacea for the refugee crisis? Rethinking the promotion of ‘self-reliance’ for refugees
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 …
From Bottom-Up to Top-Down
This article draws upon grey literature and archival materials to compare and contrast refugee livelihoods assistance in the interwar period (1919–39) and the post-war period (1945–79). It argues that the interwar period featured ‘bottom-up’ policies and practices of the League of Nations, while the post-war period was characterized by technocratic, authoritarian approaches to refugee livelihoods and development by institutions such as the United…
Developing ethical approaches to data and civil society
This research note reflects on the gaps and limitations confronting the development of ethical principles regarding the accessibility of large-scale data for civil society organizations (CSOs). Drawing upon a systematic scoping study on the use of data in the United Kingdom (UK) civil society, it finds that there are twin needs to conceptualize accessibility as more than mere availability of data, as well as examine the use of data among CSOs mor…
Panacea for the refugee crisis? Rethinking the promotion of ‘self-reliance’ for refugees
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 …
Old Concepts Making New History
Although not new topics in the field of refugee studies, self-reliance, livelihoods and entrepreneurship have recently taken on a heightened emphasis. However, critical questions remain regarding how and by whom self-reliance is defined and measured, and the intended and unintended outcomes of historical and contemporary efforts to foster it. This introductory article highlights key points arising from the Special Issue and presents a short histo…
From Bottom-Up to Top-Down
This article draws upon grey literature and archival materials to compare and contrast refugee livelihoods assistance in the interwar period (1919–39) and the post-war period (1945–79). It argues that the interwar period featured ‘bottom-up’ policies and practices of the League of Nations, while the post-war period was characterized by technocratic, authoritarian approaches to refugee livelihoods and development by institutions such as the United…
Localising Public Health
In praise of dependencies
Reconceiving or reframing the humanitarian consequences of displacement in terms of 'dispersed dependencies', a term drawn from the field of mental health, sheds light on the disruptive experience of displacement and on affected individuals' relations with other displaced people, hosts, states and humanitarian actors. Dependency for a person is neither a problem nor abnormal; independence is in effect about having a viable set of dispersed depend…
Bridging, bonding, and linking? Syrian refugee-led organisations and integration in Berlin
In this article, we analyse Syrian refugee-led organisations and initiatives in Berlin, Germany, including those led by individuals, small groups or as part of religious institutions, to understand their role in the integration process for Syrians. We draw on a framework of refugee integration to examine the role of bridging, bonding, and linking in fostering social connections. We argue that the types of social connections these organisations ai…
Combining Computational and Archival Methods to Study International Organizations
Researchers studying international organizations have access to growing and varied archives due to digitization efforts. While developments in computational methods confer efficiency gains for examining these materials at scale, they raise concerns about their validity when applied to interpretive tasks in historical settings. In response, we present a general and flexible workflow that uses simple computational techniques from linguistics to enh…
Warriors of Self-reliance
In striking contrast to most other refugee groups, Afghan refugees in Pakistan during the 1980s have primarily been understood as a successfully self-reliant population. However, little work has hitherto focused on the international assistance programmes that sought to support their everyday self-reliance. Drawing on extensive archival research, this article presents four phases of self-reliance assistance for Afghan refugees in Pakistan between …
Possibilities and limitations of anticipatory action in complex crises
Little evidence exists on the design and implementation of anticipatory action (AA) in complex crises. This article examines a 2022 United Nations 'early action' pilot in South Sudan in advance of extreme flooding. As a case study of efforts to act in a complex crisis, it contributes to learning on assisting conflict-affected and displaced populations in advance of extreme weather events. The research points towards the possibility and value of i…
Localising Refugee Assistance
Drawing on 70 interviews with humanitarians, members of governments, and civil society organisations, including refugee-led organisations, from major refugee-hosting countries in 2020 and 2021, this article explores the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on humanitarian localisation and international refugee commitments, notably the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR). It highlights the work and widening recognition of refugee-led organisations during …
The effectiveness of forecast-based humanitarian assistance in anticipation of extreme winters
This paper presents evidence relating to a forecast-based cash and non-food item distribution among vulnerable herder households during the 2017-18 dzud (extreme winter) season in Mongolia, and analyses the results of a quasi-experimental study evaluating its impacts. An innovative approach in disaster risk reduction, forecast-based financing (FbF) can have short- and long-term benefits to vulnerable households but remains understudied. The paper…
OUP accepted manuscript
This article presents a case study of the urban internally displaced people (IDP) response in Adama, Ethiopia, the former capital of the Oromia region. In 2018, approximately 1,340 registered households and many unregistered IDPs, who were mainly ethnic Oromo, arrived in Adama. Most of the IDPs arrived by way of a planned relocation scheme from camps, having fled ethnic conflict in the Somali region of the country. The article provides an overvie…
Developing ethical approaches to data and civil society
This research note reflects on the gaps and limitations confronting the development of ethical principles regarding the accessibility of large-scale data for civil society organizations (CSOs). Drawing upon a systematic scoping study on the use of data in the United Kingdom (UK) civil society, it finds that there are twin needs to conceptualize accessibility as more than mere availability of data, as well as examine the use of data among CSOs mor…
Developing ethical approaches to data and civil society
This research note reflects on the gaps and limitations confronting the development of ethical principles regarding the accessibility of large-scale data for civil society organizations (CSOs). Drawing upon a systematic scoping study on the use of data in the United Kingdom (UK) civil society, it finds that there are twin needs to conceptualize accessibility as more than mere availability of data, as well as examine the use of data among CSOs mor…
From Bottom-Up to Top-Down
This article draws upon grey literature and archival materials to compare and contrast refugee livelihoods assistance in the interwar period (1919–39) and the post-war period (1945–79). It argues that the interwar period featured ‘bottom-up’ policies and practices of the League of Nations, while the post-war period was characterized by technocratic, authoritarian approaches to refugee livelihoods and development by institutions such as the United…
Panacea for the refugee crisis? Rethinking the promotion of ‘self-reliance’ for refugees
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 …
Old Concepts Making New History
Although not new topics in the field of refugee studies, self-reliance, livelihoods and entrepreneurship have recently taken on a heightened emphasis. However, critical questions remain regarding how and by whom self-reliance is defined and measured, and the intended and unintended outcomes of historical and contemporary efforts to foster it. This introductory article highlights key points arising from the Special Issue and presents a short histo…
Warriors of Self-reliance
In striking contrast to most other refugee groups, Afghan refugees in Pakistan during the 1980s have primarily been understood as a successfully self-reliant population. However, little work has hitherto focused on the international assistance programmes that sought to support their everyday self-reliance. Drawing on extensive archival research, this article presents four phases of self-reliance assistance for Afghan refugees in Pakistan between …
The Global Governed
When refugees flee war and persecution, protection and assistance are usually provided by United Nations organisations and their NGO implementing partners. In camps and cities, the dominant humanitarian model remains premised upon a provider-beneficiary relationship. In parallel to this model, however, is a largely neglected story: refugees themselves frequently mobilise to create organisations or networks as alternative providers of social prote…
OUP accepted manuscript
This article presents a case study of the urban internally displaced people (IDP) response in Adama, Ethiopia, the former capital of the Oromia region. In 2018, approximately 1,340 registered households and many unregistered IDPs, who were mainly ethnic Oromo, arrived in Adama. Most of the IDPs arrived by way of a planned relocation scheme from camps, having fled ethnic conflict in the Somali region of the country. The article provides an overvie…
Localising Public Health
In praise of dependencies
Reconceiving or reframing the humanitarian consequences of displacement in terms of 'dispersed dependencies', a term drawn from the field of mental health, sheds light on the disruptive experience of displacement and on affected individuals' relations with other displaced people, hosts, states and humanitarian actors. Dependency for a person is neither a problem nor abnormal; independence is in effect about having a viable set of dispersed depend…
The Rhetoric and Reality of Localisation
When refugees flee war and persecution, protection and assistance are usually provided by United Nations organisations and their NGO implementing partners. In parallel is a largely neglected story: refugees themselves frequently mobilise to provide protection and assistance to other refugees. At a global level, there has been a shift in international policy rhetoric towards ‘localisation’ and inclusion of refugees, which potentially provides an o…
Bridging, bonding, and linking? Syrian refugee-led organisations and integration in Berlin
In this article, we analyse Syrian refugee-led organisations and initiatives in Berlin, Germany, including those led by individuals, small groups or as part of religious institutions, to understand their role in the integration process for Syrians. We draw on a framework of refugee integration to examine the role of bridging, bonding, and linking in fostering social connections. We argue that the types of social connections these organisations ai…
Refugees, Self-Reliance, Development
Evan Easton-Calabria’s critical history of refugee self-reliance assistance brings new dimensions to refugee and international development studies. The promotion of refugee self-reliance is evident today, yet its history remains largely unexplored, with good practices and longstanding issues often missed. Through archival and contemporary evidence, this book documents a century of little-known efforts to foster refugee self-reliance, including th…
Refugees, Self-reliance, Development
With five case studies from Greece, Tanzania, Pakistan, Uganda, and Egypt, this book tracks refugee self-reliance as a malleable concept used to pursue ulterior interests. It reshapes understandings of refugee self-reliance and delivers important messages for contemporary policymaking.
Managing multiple hazards
In the face of climate change, development and humanitarian practitioners increasingly recognize the need to anticipate and manage multiple, concurrent risks. One prominent example of this increasing focus on anticipation is the rapid growth of Forecast-based Financing (FbF), in particular within Red Cross and Red Crescent (RCRC). To evaluate how anticipatory efforts managed multiple compounding risks during the COVID-19 pandemic, we examine how …
Localising Refugee Assistance
Drawing on 70 interviews with humanitarians, members of governments, and civil society organisations, including refugee-led organisations, from major refugee-hosting countries in 2020 and 2021, this article explores the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on humanitarian localisation and international refugee commitments, notably the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR). It highlights the work and widening recognition of refugee-led organisations during …
Combining Computational and Archival Methods to Study International Organizations
Researchers studying international organizations have access to growing and varied archives due to digitization efforts. While developments in computational methods confer efficiency gains for examining these materials at scale, they raise concerns about their validity when applied to interpretive tasks in historical settings. In response, we present a general and flexible workflow that uses simple computational techniques from linguistics to enh…
The effectiveness of forecast-based humanitarian assistance in anticipation of extreme winters
This paper presents evidence relating to a forecast-based cash and non-food item distribution among vulnerable herder households during the 2017-18 dzud (extreme winter) season in Mongolia, and analyses the results of a quasi-experimental study evaluating its impacts. An innovative approach in disaster risk reduction, forecast-based financing (FbF) can have short- and long-term benefits to vulnerable households but remains understudied. The paper…
Digital Responsibility
This op-ed outlines key issues humanitarians should consider when assessing their ‘digital responsibility’ to foster digital refugee livelihoods. This includes in particular the need to develop robust monitoring and evaluation frameworks of outcomes of digital livelihoods trainings for refugees – and spaces for critical engagement with the results of such evaluations, including stopping digital livelihoods programming when risks outweigh benefits…
Refugees in the Digital Economy
The current scale and duration of displacement prompts renewed urgency about livelihoods prospects for displaced people and the role of humanitarian organisations in fostering them. This special issue focuses on how aid organisations, together with the private sector and other actors, have worked to include refugees in new forms of online work within the web-based digital economy. Building on comparative analysis and a comprehensive review of the…
Beyond the forecast
Although conflict-affected populations are often exposed to and severely impacted by disasters, little is known about their perceptions and practices concerning early warning and early action (EWEA) or how EWEA strategies can protect communities affected by conflict- and climate-related disasters. This is particularly problematic as, due to the multiple challenges posed by conflict and compound crises in these contexts, early warnings of weather …
Risk-Taking, Risk-Making
This article explores how different notions and manifestations of risk and uncertainty shape discussions on, and processes of, humanitarian localisation in relation to refugee-led organisations (RLOs). Focusing on South Sudanese RLOs in Uganda and their engagements with international funders and agencies, we argue that the very measures undertaken by INGOs and donors to mitigate their perceived risks of localisation in fact require their supposed…
Managing’ the paradox
The refugee self-reliance agenda is marked by tensions and contradictions, echoing wider incoherence in the international refugee regime. We explore these through the philosophical concept of paradoxes. Paradoxes allow for multiple interests and narratives to be simultaneously ‘true’, leading to refugee policy outcomes that are often incoherent by omission instead of commission. To illustrate this, we draw on recent empirical studies to examine h…
Internal localisation’ and early action
Based on in-depth qualitative research, this article explores the process of a United Nations (UN) early action intervention in response to extreme flooding in South Sudan in 2022. Drawing on the experiences of UN staff who designed, implemented and oversaw the process, it identifies parallels with issues raised in broader discussions on humanitarian localisation. It presents the analytical concept of ‘internal localisation’ to highlight the need…
Possibilities and limitations of anticipatory action in complex crises
Little evidence exists on the design and implementation of anticipatory action (AA) in complex crises. This article examines a 2022 United Nations 'early action' pilot in South Sudan in advance of extreme flooding. As a case study of efforts to act in a complex crisis, it contributes to learning on assisting conflict-affected and displaced populations in advance of extreme weather events. The research points towards the possibility and value of i…
Political science (22 works) · Refugee (16 works) · Economics (15 works) · Migration, Refugees, and Integration (15 works) · Economic growth (13 works) · Law (13 works) · Geography (12 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Development economics (11 works) · Law (10 works)