Title dissertation:
Helping the Rejected: Moral Contestations of European Migration Policies from Below
Topic trial lecture:
Digital humanitarianism as personal, moral and political phenomena. Implications for research, ethics and policy
Time for trial lecture: 10:15 – 11:15
Time for public defence: 12:15 – 15:30
Place: Daniel Mortenson-salen and streaming
Chair of defence: Dean Elisabeth Ljunggren
Assessment committee:
- Professor Martin Bak Jørgensen, Aalborg University
- Research Professor Kari Steen-Johnsen, Institute for Social Research
- Associate Professor Ann-Torill Tørrisplass, Nord University
Supervisors:
- Main supervisor: Associate Professor Berit Irene Vannebo, Nord University
- Co-supervisor: Professor Mette Andersson, University of Oslo
The thesis is available for viewing by contacting Anneli M. Watterud, e-post: anneli.m.watterud@nord.no.
Summary of the thesis:
In a world where human rights norms are increasingly disregarded, global migration is transpiring, and there is growing digital surveillance of civil society and migrants, this dissertation looks at how civil society actors in Europe respond to restrictive migration policies. It does this by analysing the acts and motives of 30 individuals who provide informal and sometimes illegal support to young Afghan migrants with rejected asylum claims.
Drawing on interviews, one field visit, and six months of digital observations with 30 informants, the thesis demonstrates how 'ordinary citizens' became involved in helping young Afghan migrants during the so-called refugee crisis in Europe and how they experienced and responded to increasingly stringent asylum policies.
The dissertation contributes specifically to research on pro-migrant solidarity movements in Europe that analyse these practices as acts of humanitarianism.
The thesis contributes to this field empirically by exploring the subversive, clandestine, and digital acts of citizen humanitarianism and how these acts are practised and potentially criminalised. Theoretically, the thesis contributes to the field by introducing the concept of 'digital citizen humanitarianism', a term that allows us to be precise about the different forms of citizen humanitarianism enabled by the digital. The thesis contributes to theory additionally by introducing sociolegal studies to the field of citizen humanitarianism and showing how citizen humanitarians appropriate the collective memory and cultural trauma to legitimise and make meaning of subversive acts. The dissertation also provides a methodological contribution to the field by demonstrating why and how researchers can benefit from including open-source intelligence practices in digital ethnographic research.
In conclusion, the thesis discusses the findings in light of how liberal democracies are increasingly abdicating their commitments to human rights and the 1951 Refugee Convention in particular. The findings of this dissertation showcase the tension between the will of democratic majorities in democratic sovereign states and cosmopolitan norms of human rights and humanitarianism. The moral contestations of migration policies extended by 'ordinary citizens' contribute to the ongoing negotiation of values and rights within society.
