Abstract
Within the Balkan corridor Croatia combined state-driven ‘crisis management measures’ with humanitarian practices of immediate care and assistance provided by state, civil society, religious and humanitarian organizations, and new solidarity initiatives. While at the beginning majority of stakeholders were acting in humane/humanitarian and overtly supportive manner (‘humanitarian opportunism’), later on, with gradual closure of the corridor, radicalization and securitization of state discourses, rhetoric and politics took place, leading to ‘securitization discomfort’ among pro-refugee actors. Consequently, humanitarian organizations and initiatives came into ambiguous position of balancing in-between their mission/orientation to help and to foster solidarity, and innate motivation to challenge and circumvent securitizing politics.
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Župarić-Iljić, D., Valenta, M. (2019). Opportunistic Humanitarianism and Securitization Discomfort Along the Balkan Corridor: The Croatian Experience. In: Feischmidt, M., Pries, L., Cantat, C. (eds) Refugee Protection and Civil Society in Europe. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-92741-1_5
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