Governing Empowerment: How aid organisations negotiate the empowerment of refugees in a context of hybrid governance with donors, Syrian refugees and the Lebanese state in Beirut since the Syrian conflict in 2011

Abstract

Lebanon, a country which consists of 4 million Lebanese nationals, has received a large number of about 1.5 million Syrian refugees since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011. The Lebanese state has provided a fragmentised response, which is primarily focused on the refugees’ return or resettlement. At the same time, a large humanitarian response is involved in dealing with this influx of refugees. Some of these aid organisations focus on the ‘empowerment’ of refugees, which stands in stark contrast with the Lebanese state’s positions towards refugees. This research analyses how aid organisations negotiate the empowerment of refugees with donors, Syrian refugees, and the Lebanese state in Beirut. By bringing together analytical concepts related to hybridity, humanitarian governance and empowerment, this research concludes that the empowerment of refugees is not achieved in Lebanon. The question which follows out of this conclusion, is, why does this humanitarian aid system continue? In answering this question, this research contributes to our theoretical understanding of governing empowerment in a hybrid humanitarian framework and disentangles its logic of practice.