Humanitarian Technologies as Sociotechnical Imaginaries. How Multi-National Companies Impact on the Idea of Humanitarian Action Through Technologies

Abstract

This PhD study examines how multi-national companies impact on the idea of humanitarian aid through technologies designed to improve aid delivery in complex emergencies and disasters. In light of a humanitarian turn towards technologies, private-public partnerships between humanitarian organisations and corporate companies have become a key aspect of humanitarian aid. In fact, businesses have become vital partners for humanitarian aid through the development of technologies that fundamentally change the way humanitarian aid is delivered. This study argues that in a sector which traditionally has been strongly rooted in the principles of humanity, neutrality, impartiality and independence, corporations should not be seen merely as new implementing partners. Rather, they are simultaneously actors with sociotechnical power and create, through the way they operate through technologies, new knowledge and expectations about future humanitarian orders. However, only little scientific knowledge exists about businesses' capacities in establishing sociotechnical imaginaries as vital elements in the making of the humanitarian sector. This thesis fills this knowledge gap by combining two separate areas of research, namely, private-public partnerships in humanitarian studies with the concept of sociotechnical imaginaries originating in Science and Technology Studies. In doing so, the objective of this thesis is threefold. Firstly, the aim is to better understand underlying mechanisms of how particular sociotechnical imaginaries emerge through corporate technologies; secondly, to investigate to what extent they appear to become dominant within the humanitarian community; and thirdly, to examine the impact of new imaginaries on humanitarian principles as a moral fundament for aid. Founded in the research position of critical realism, this thesis uses a qualitative, comparative study design of two cases of corporate humanitarian technologies: IKEA Foundation's prefabricated, temporary shelter 'Better Shelter', and Mastercard's Aid Network and prepaid cards for the delivery of cash and voucher assistance. By applying a thematic narrative analysis, this study identifies and interprets the establishment and implications of hegemonic sociotechnical imaginaries in narratives. The study has two main findings. Firstly, both corporations establish sociotechnical imaginaries in markets relevant to them through a narrative of freedom. This promotes a conception of humanitarian technologies as commodities, and an idea of dignity for aid recipients rooted in the logic of consumption. Secondly, humanitarian organisations validate what is seen as 'good' or 'bad' humanitarian technology in light of the dominant sociotechnical imaginary at play. An imaginary of principled aid is eroding in the aftermath of neoliberalism, and the case of MasterCard suggests that this process is accelerated when corporations are originators of shared visions. This thesis concludes that corporations do not just provide new technologies. They can also generate novel interpretations of humanitarian aid which can lead to private-public partnerships forming hybrid organisations with their own operational priorities and moral guidelines overwriting a traditional imaginary of principled aid.

Date of Award	1 Aug 2021
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	The University of Manchester
Supervisor	Birte Vogel (Supervisor) & Kenneth Mcphail (Supervisor)