Abstract
ABSTRACT Resilience is a dominant humanitarian-development theme. Nonetheless, some humanitarian-development programmes have demonstrably negative impacts which encourage vulnerable people to actively resist these programmes. Based on 12 months ethnographic fieldwork in a Ugandan refugee settlement during 2017–18, this paper argues refugee residents articulated their refusal of humanitarian failure and corruption through active, largely non-political, resistance. I term the diverse strategies used ‘resistant resilience’, arguing that the agency central to these practices require that assumptions about resilience are reconsidered. I conclude that this refugee community’s most important resilience strategies were active resistance, demonstrating that resilience can be manifested through marginalised peoples’ desire to resist exploitation.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have