AbstractsSociology

Aid in Palestine

by Sofie Dahl Hansen




Institution: Roskilde University
Department:
Year: 2014
Keywords: Palestine; Community Foundations; aid; donor money; Dalia
Record ID: 1120007
Full text PDF: http://rudar.ruc.dk/handle/1800/16595


Abstract

Abstract Grounded in an epistemology of first-hand produced empirical data, this study sets out to understand how the Palestinian community foundation Dalia Association seeks to transform the Palestinian aid system. The study thus adheres to the constructionist ontology, in which structures are perceived as open for change through social processes of interaction. Owing to the investigation of Dalia’s efforts to create change, theoretical concepts from Social Movement Theory have been deployed. Dalia was established by a critical community of academics as a response to the high aid-dependency created after the 1993-Oslo Accord. Rather than benefitting the Palestinian community, Dalia argues that international aid has created a culture of passive receiving. Dalia believes that the Palestinian community worldwide has resources, if pooled in the shape of social philanthropy, to control the development currently determined from the donor level of the aid chain. The organization’s ideology was found to be an awareness of the local resources enabling oneself to become a development actor. This is to be reached through a process of enlightenment inherent in Dalia’s programs. Logically, Dalia targets aid-dependent people and for this reason, Dalia has been framed as a grants-distributing organization. The study examines the grantmaking-program Women Supporting Women (WSW) as the means to lessen aid-dependency. Through interviews with awardees, a lack of commensurability between Dalia’s vision and the everyday experiences of the organizations was found: Dalia’s vision of philanthropy ranges to a global level, however, the awardees experienced resource scarcity in the local community. On the other hand, all participants appreciated that grants were unconditioned, but as Dalia enjoyed great credibility, the awardees nevertheless followed its advices. Dalia’s own donor-relations have recently become a field of tension after initiating cooperation with the UN. As a major development actor, the UN represents exactly the system Dalia seeks to change, thus pointing out a framing dispute within Dalia. However, at the point of writing, the conditionalities imposed by the UN on the WSW-program appear not to be transcended down through the aid chain to the awardees. Rather, Dalia appears to take a role as a buffer between the large donor and the small communities.