HUMEPI · Humanitarianism, Emotions, and the Politics of Intimacy

Humanitarianism, Emotions and the Politics of Intimacy - HUMEPI - proposes an innovative analysis of the emotions that receiving aid triggers in the refugee population, and how these emotional engagements shape the intimacy of refugees’ families and their political response to the humanitarian apparatus - the politics of intimacy. It analyses the humanitarian reply to the Malian crisis in the Sahel, a security and humanitarian hot-topic for Africa and Europe alike, from the perspective of Kel Tamasheq refugees women in Mauritania. By producing novel, grounded and generalisable knowledge on the encounter between refugees and humanitarian actors, HUMEPI ambitiously addresses compelling societal challenges, pertaining to the role of humanitarianism, trust and legitimacy. It leans on the excellence of two research institutions - IHEID (Switzerland) and UNA (Mauritania) - and on the long-term humanitarian expertise of the NGO CISP (Italy) in Mauritania. HUMEPI’s objectives are to: contribute to theory-building in the study of humanitarianism (O1); explore the role of emotions and the politics of intimacy towards humanitarianism at meso/micro levels (O2); design innovative methodological approaches in the study of humanitarianism (O3). The plan envisages an intensive theoretical, methodological and communicative training (WP2/WP4→O3), a Mauritanian 4-months secondment, divided between UNA and CISP, and fieldwork among Kel Tamasheq refugees women, with whom I hold a decade-long research relationship (WP3→O2), and a thorough analysis/writing schedule (WP4→O1), correlated with an accurate DEC Plan (WP5). HUMEPI main goals are to inform and build novel much-needed humanitarian approaches, promote accurate narratives about refugees’ perspectives, humanitarian practice and the Malian crisis among the public and political spheres, while also being an invaluable opportunity for my academic and professional development, in line with MSCA’s scope to form future European excellence.