[csaa-forum] ANU Sociology Seminar Series: "Mechanisms of invisibility: Contradictions of localising humanitarianism and questions of participation" with Dr Jenna Harb, ANU

[Thao Phan]

Hi all, we’re pleased to announce details for the next event in the School
of Sociology Seminar Series. The seminar speaker is Dr Jenna Imad Harb
(ANU) who will be speaking on the "local turn" in digital humanitarianism
in Lebanon. The seminar is both in-person and online (details below).


All the best,

Thao

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

https://sociology.cass.anu.edu.au/events/mechanisms-invisibility-contradictions-localising-humanitarianism-and-questions



Speaker: Dr Jenna Imad Harb, ANU RegNet



Date: Monday 28 April, 2025

Time: 12 – 1pm

Location: Room 4.69 RSSS Building

Chair: Thao Phan



Speaker: Dr Jenna Harb, RegNet ANU



Join Zoom Meeting
https://anu.zoom.us/j/85293466550?pwd=aHRXMVFZMUM4T1o2U0pNYWhkWjFJZz09

Meeting ID: 852 9346 6550
Password: 0000





*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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