Jenna Imad Harb, in her article “Mechanisms of Invisibility: The Contradictions of Localising and Decolonising Humanitarian Aid”, published in Third World Quarterly in 2025, offers a powerful critique of the humanitarian sector’s recent push for localisation. Drawing on feminist theory and digital ethnography from Lebanon, Harb argues that despite its progressive rhetoric, localisation often functions as a mechanism of exclusion rather than empowerment. She introduces the concept of “mechanisms of invisibility” to explain how localisation can reproduce—and even deepen—colonial and racial hierarchies under the guise of reform.
Harb identifies three such mechanisms: predatory inclusion, where local actors are brought in nominally but exploited for legitimacy; delocalisation, where actors considered “local” are often selected for their proximity to Western norms rather than genuine rootedness; and technologised capacity-building, which frames local actors as perpetually lacking, requiring training rather than recognition. These mechanisms, Harb suggests, do not decentralise power but instead recast it in more insidious ways such as legitimising foreign control while erasing local voices. Drawing attention to how these dynamics are gendered and racialised, Harb shows how humanitarian aid continues to privilege whiteness and external expertise.
Ultimately, Harb challenges the assumption that localisation is inherently decolonial. She argues that without deep structural changes to the global humanitarian system—particularly its knowledge frameworks, funding mechanisms, and labour hierarchies—localisation risks serving as a superficial reform that masks, rather than dismantles, existing power imbalances. This dynamic is starkly visible in the contrast between humanitarian responses in Gaza and Ukraine: while Ukrainian civil society organisations have received unprecedented levels of direct international funding and political solidarity, local actors in Gaza are often sidelined, subjected to heavy scrutiny, and dependent on foreign intermediaries for access and legitimacy. Harb’s analysis helps explain why even under the banner of localisation Palestinian aid workers remain structurally invisible, while their Ukrainian counterparts are framed as empowered agents. Her work calls for a more honest reckoning with questions of power, visibility, and voice in humanitarian governance, urging scholars and practitioners to distinguish between token inclusion and genuine systemic change.