More than mere survival: violence, humanitarian governance, and practical material politics in a Kenyan refugee camp

Abstract

This paper frames the political import of refugees' material practices in Kakuma Refugee Camp through critical reflection on Eyal Weizman's notion of the humanitarian present. To begin, I explore how the production of the refugee camp as a space of containment takes place not through a unified humanitarian calculus, but through a set of articulated practices undertaken by various actors—governments, police, aid agencies, host populations, and refugees—all of which have profoundly material manifestations. Secondly, I argue that refugees' pursuits of material well-being through semilicit and illicit means should be read as a practical material critique of the declining standards of humanitarian support. These efforts to achieve sustenance, invest in the future, and exert autonomy serve as a public reminder that humanitarian assistance fails to meet the minimum standard to ensure human existence, and that refugees aim for something more than mere survival.