Department of Anthropology

Humanitarian aid—such as clothing, food, and basic household items—is a crucial response to the emergencies of displacement. However, little is known about how aid is designed and coordinated by multiple actors in practice and how it is used (or not) by aid recipients. This project investigates the governance and consumption of humanitarian aid to internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Ukraine. Since 2014, a conflict in eastern Ukraine has forced more than 1.4 million people to become IDPs. Employing qualitative methods and ethnographic techniques, the study explores the politics of governance, routes of circulation, and patterns of consumption (or non-consumption) of material aid. The project aims to explain efficiency/inefficiency of policies for aid governance, elucidate common misconceptions in the understanding of IDPs' needs, and explicate the informal economies surrounding humanitarian assistance.

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