Evan Easton-Calabria
Biographic Data
| ID | 3797253 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Evan Easton-Calabria |
| GIVEN NAMES | Evan |
| FAMILY NAME | Easton-Calabria |
| SIGNATURE | EASTON-CALABRIA E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Oxford Department of International Development, Refugee Studies Centre, 3 Mansfield Road, OX1 3TB, Oxford, UK |
| VERIFIED | No |
| TOTAL WORKS | 12 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 78 |
| WORKS AS AUTHOR | 12 |
| WORKS AS EDITOR | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2018 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
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…
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.
Refugees, Self-reliance, Development
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 the economic, political, and social motives driving this assistance. It explores how self-reliance programming for refugees has largely occurred throu…
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…
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…
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 …
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…
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 …
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 …
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…
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.
Refugees, Self-reliance, Development
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 the economic, political, and social motives driving this assistance. It explores how self-reliance programming for refugees has largely occurred throu…
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…
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…
Political science (12 works) · Refugee (11 works) · Development economics (9 works) · Economics (9 works) · Migration, Refugees, and Integration (9 works) · Economic growth (8 works) · Law (8 works) · Sociology (8 works) · Politics (6 works) · Self reliance (6 works)