Paper details
| Paper authors | Hatice Kübra Koçak |
| In panel on | Communities of Practice as Sites of Solidarity, Resistance and Shifting Power in Humanitarianism |
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Abstract
Humanitarian governance is often structured by vertical hierarchies privileging international actors, yet transformative action increasingly emerges from horizontal alliances among local organizations. This paper explores how peer-based partnerships between local NGOs—across geographies and crises—function as communities of practice (CoPs) that challenge entrenched power relations in the humanitarian-development-peace nexus.
Drawing on field-based examples from Syria, Somalia, Bosnia, Gaza, and Bangladesh, this paper examines how these CoPs foster shared technical knowledge, provide reciprocal access, create grassroots funding channels, and promote collective advocacy. Instead of relying on traditional donor frameworks, these self-organized spaces operate through mutual accountability, long-standing trust, and cultural embeddedness. They enable local actors to co-lead, co-design, and co-deliver responses, thereby redefining leadership and legitimacy in humanitarian governance.
By positioning these partnerships as acts of political solidarity and resistance, the paper argues that they serve not only as mechanisms for implementation but also as sites for knowledge production, power redistribution, and decolonial potential. These communities exemplify how locally-rooted, peer-driven collaborations can reimagine the nature of humanitarianism and redefine who leads it.
