Anna

International efforts to assist refugees largely fall into four areas. The first and most basic is to prevent the conditions that create refugees (or to alter the conditions if they do).

The nuance and inherent humility of the social sciences—the realization that development has to do with people, with human and social complexity, with cultural and traditional realities, and their willingness to struggle with the messy and multifaceted aspects of a problem—have no cachet in this metrics-driven, efficiency-seeking,

evolving. Chaotic situations—such as a humanitarian disaster—often require that we act quickly to save lives or tend to emergencies before working to establish some sense of order. They call for a rapid response to distribute information and resources to where they are needed most, before addressing the underlying issues.

To accomplish these critical goals, we need both responsive government and public awareness. This awareness is twofold: it’s awareness both of the challenges that need to be addressed (as opposed to the false challenges that don’t) and of the best ways to meet them.

Hegemonic practices (reinforcing and justifying the status quo) Ethnocentric projections (presenting one view as universal and superior) Ahistorical thinking (forgetting the role of historical legacies and complicities in shaping current problems) Depoliticized orientations (disregarding the impacts of power inequalities and delegitimizing dissent)