Localizing the state

Stateness among refugee-led community-based organizations in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya

Dados Bibliográficos

ID2290970
AutoresStefan Millar (0000-0002-8894-0990, Faculty of Social Sciences University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland)
Ano2024
Volume47
Fascículo2
Páginas163-175
Data de publicação2024-11-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoPoLAR Political and Legal Anthropology Review (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1081-6976 • E-ISSN: 1555-2934
EditoraWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/plar.12575
OpenAlexW4403144744
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas3
Referências citadas39

The localization of humanitarian operations is commonly characterized as a return of ownership to local and national actors. Localization policies in Kenya have made refugee-led community-based organizations a viable alternative for humanitarian provisioning. Simultaneously, localization facilitated the ongoing enlargement of the Kenyan state into refugee management. Incidentally, the Kenyan state has introduced limitations on community-based organizations' international funding and registration through a verification process. Drawing on 12 months of ethnographic research in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya, this article explores how community-based organizations mediate Kenyan state control through verification. The article develops the concept of "stateness" to examine how refugee actors claim legitimacy as a state function. Stateness is generated by members of community-based organizations through practices involving fellow refugees and Kenyan state actors. Using stateness, this article seeks to draw attention to how refugees can become a part of wider state apparatus and shape how the state is constituted within the camp

Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Hydropower, Displacement, Environmental Impact · Migration, Refugees, and Integration