Depoliticising disaster response in a politically saturated context: the case of the 2016-19 droughts in Zimbabwe
Responding to disasters triggered by natural hazards is a deeply political process, but it is usually presented by practitioners as an apolitical endeavour. This is striking when disasters occur in authoritarian and politically highly polarised conflict-affected settings. Although the literature pro...
Saved in:
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | research article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Wiley
2023
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/5400 https://doi.org/10.1111/disa.12516 |
| Tags: |
Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
|
| _version_ | 1779905665731395584 |
|---|---|
| author | Ntombizakhe Moyo-Nyoni |
| author2 | Lecturer Peace Studies, Midlands State University |
| author_facet | Lecturer Peace Studies, Midlands State University Ntombizakhe Moyo-Nyoni |
| author_sort | Ntombizakhe Moyo-Nyoni |
| collection | DSpace |
| description | Responding to disasters triggered by natural hazards is a deeply political process, but it is usually presented by practitioners as an apolitical endeavour. This is striking when disasters occur in authoritarian and politically highly polarised conflict-affected settings. Although the literature provides leads as to why and how humanitarians depoliticise aid, there has been little empirical research on the implications of depoliticisation, especially at the community level. Based on qualitative fieldwork that focused on the drought responses that overlapped with the 2016-19 sociopolitical crises in Zimbabwe, this paper details the practices, motivations, and implications of humanitarian depoliticisation. It differentiates between strategic, coerced, and routine managerial depoliticisation, and argues that, in an authoritarian conflict-affected setting, depoliticisation strategically allows state and non-state actors to defuse sensitive issues and actor relations and to remain safe. However, depoliticisation can also have implications for information management, monitoring, accountability, and protection, and thus ultimately for upholding humanitarian principles. |
| format | research article |
| id | ir-11408-5400 |
| institution | My University |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | ir-11408-54002023-03-14T11:43:04Z Depoliticising disaster response in a politically saturated context: the case of the 2016-19 droughts in Zimbabwe Ntombizakhe Moyo-Nyoni Lecturer Peace Studies, Midlands State University authoritarianism disaster conflict depoliticisation drought governance humanitarian politics Zimbabwe Responding to disasters triggered by natural hazards is a deeply political process, but it is usually presented by practitioners as an apolitical endeavour. This is striking when disasters occur in authoritarian and politically highly polarised conflict-affected settings. Although the literature provides leads as to why and how humanitarians depoliticise aid, there has been little empirical research on the implications of depoliticisation, especially at the community level. Based on qualitative fieldwork that focused on the drought responses that overlapped with the 2016-19 sociopolitical crises in Zimbabwe, this paper details the practices, motivations, and implications of humanitarian depoliticisation. It differentiates between strategic, coerced, and routine managerial depoliticisation, and argues that, in an authoritarian conflict-affected setting, depoliticisation strategically allows state and non-state actors to defuse sensitive issues and actor relations and to remain safe. However, depoliticisation can also have implications for information management, monitoring, accountability, and protection, and thus ultimately for upholding humanitarian principles. 46 4 1098 1120 2023-03-14T11:43:04Z 2023-03-14T11:43:04Z 2022-04-28 research article https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/5400 https://doi.org/10.1111/disa.12516 en Disasters open Wiley |
| spellingShingle | authoritarianism disaster conflict depoliticisation drought governance humanitarian politics Zimbabwe Ntombizakhe Moyo-Nyoni Depoliticising disaster response in a politically saturated context: the case of the 2016-19 droughts in Zimbabwe |
| title | Depoliticising disaster response in a politically saturated context: the case of the 2016-19 droughts in Zimbabwe |
| title_full | Depoliticising disaster response in a politically saturated context: the case of the 2016-19 droughts in Zimbabwe |
| title_fullStr | Depoliticising disaster response in a politically saturated context: the case of the 2016-19 droughts in Zimbabwe |
| title_full_unstemmed | Depoliticising disaster response in a politically saturated context: the case of the 2016-19 droughts in Zimbabwe |
| title_short | Depoliticising disaster response in a politically saturated context: the case of the 2016-19 droughts in Zimbabwe |
| title_sort | depoliticising disaster response in a politically saturated context: the case of the 2016-19 droughts in zimbabwe |
| topic | authoritarianism disaster conflict depoliticisation drought governance humanitarian politics Zimbabwe |
| url | https://cris.library.msu.ac.zw//handle/11408/5400 https://doi.org/10.1111/disa.12516 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT ntombizakhemoyonyoni depoliticisingdisasterresponseinapoliticallysaturatedcontextthecaseofthe201619droughtsinzimbabwe |