Understanding solidarity amid refugee crises
Dr Kerri Woods has been awarded a White Rose Collaboration Fund grant to lead an interdisciplinary network of scholars from the Universities of Leeds, Sheffield and York to study solidarity.
The provision of sanctuary to refugees is an expression of humanitarian solidarity, a commitment to the idea of a common humanity. In most refugee contexts around the world, local civil society actors – groups, communities, and NGOs – are the main providers of support and services to refugees.
Media vilification of refugees and migrants, and the rise of popular nationalism, suggests a tension between domestic and humanitarian solidarities. Though much attention has been paid to refugee movements in Europe (less so to events elsewhere), the majority of academic work in these areas has been focused on policy and security issues. In contrast, this innovative project investigates how theories, discourses and practices of solidarity in host societies reflect and inform responses to refugees.
