(Forthcoming in Studies in Comparative International Development, co-authored with Christiana Bellini) Humanitarian nationalism during autocratic disaster governance: The politicization of the earthquake response in Türkiye
What happens when autocratic governments manage humanitarian crises in politicized contexts? This article critically reflects on the 2023 earthquake emergency response in Türkiye. Our study is based on fieldwork interviews and participant observations during the earthquake response. The earthquake shook the country a few months before a contested presidential election. Combining explanations from regime survival theories and disaster policies, we show how elected autocracies strategically contain and co-opt international disaster response mechanisms to reinforce their authority and legitimacy. Yet, international NGOs can maintain access to such a nationalized response through their financial superiority. We conceptualize the outcome of this nationalized earthquake response as an autocratic aid allocation funnel: a discriminatory aid distribution mechanism favoring the government’s core voter base while marginalizing minorities who lack voting rights. This demonstrates how electoral autocracies exploit emergencies to consolidate power, using crises as opportunities to enhance their authority while exacerbating inequalities. International organizations face a dilemma: whether to provide much-needed aid while potentially becoming complicit in a regime’s unequal and politically motivated disaster response. The case highlights how autocratic governments manipulate crises for political gain, further marginalizing vulnerable minority populations.
Erdogan speaks to media in Adiyaman
Source: Murat Kula—Anadolu Agency/Getty Images, 10.02.2023