Mechanisms of invisibility: Contradictions of localising humanitarianism and questions of participation

Localisation refers to shifting the ownership and leadership of crisis response to local actors. Within the humanitarian sector, localisation has been framed as making aid more reflective of needs on the ground, supporting more equitable structures, and addressing concerns related to colonisation by Western-European actors operating in the Global South. In light of debates about “going local,” this article contributes to the literature on the “local turn” by offering a feminist critique. Inspired by sociologist Erin Hatton’s conceptualisation of invisible work, this paper illuminates how local humanitarian labour becomes invisibilised through localisation.

Applying data from a multisited ethnography of digital humanitarianism in Lebanon, this paper demonstrates three “mechanisms of invisibility.” First, local actors are marginalised through predatory inclusion in transnational partnership structures. Second, local identity is devalued through delocalisation that prefers local actors with qualities of and affiliations with transnational organisations. Third, local skills are degraded through paternalistic capacity building and its technologisation. Together, these mechanisms of invisibility reinforce power hierarchies that ironically perpetuate the silencing, erasure, and exclusion of local humanitarian actors.

In doing so, this paper argues that, in practice, localisation can impede social equality and broader decolonisation efforts by legitimating the continued dominance of Western-European organisations. The seminar ends with a call to critically question what is meant by participation and what it entails.

Jenna Imad Harb is a Research Fellow at the Australian National University’s School of Regulation and Global Governance and a member of its Justice and Technoscience Lab. As a feminist sociologist, her research focuses on power, social inequality, and emerging technologies, particularly their impact on marginalised groups. She has published on topics including protest surveillance, policing technologies, anti-sexual violence tech, AI regulation, and gig economies. Her current work explores how Tech for Good infrastructures influence experiences of breakdown and adaptation, drawing on maintenance studies, feminist theory, and regulatory governance.

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