The Humanitarian-Development Nexus and the Jordan Compact: Tensions and Trajectories in Global Capitalism

Lama Tawakkol, Susanne Soederberg

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

148 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

The humanitarian-development nexus (HDN) frames protracted refugee situations as win-win development opportunities, building on dominant tropes like sustainable development and global risk management. Focusing on the Jordan Compact as part of the HDN, we question for whom it presents opportunities, highlighting its politics and tensions. We argue that the HDN and Jordan Compact are not win-win strategies whereby refugees and host countries benefit equally, but rather fail forward strategies with longstanding material roots in the power relations and paradoxes of global capitalism. Moreover, the neoliberal fail forward practices both frameworks embody legitimate themselves by depoliticising capitalism’s underlying contradictions. We highlight how the HDN, similar to its undergirding tropes, is a political project that advances the interests of private actors over those of its intended beneficiaries.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)129-154
Number of pages26
JournalJournal fur Entwicklungspolitik
Volume36
Issue number4
Publication statusPublished - 2020

Keywords

  • Humanitarian-Development Nexus
  • Jordan Compact
  • fail forward neoliberalism
  • global capitalism
  • development finance

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'The Humanitarian-Development Nexus and the Jordan Compact: Tensions and Trajectories in Global Capitalism'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this