Transforming Humanitarian Partnerships: Dismantling Colonial Legacies for Refugee Education

This book examines how global humanitarian systems shape partnerships in education in emergencies. Focusing on the Syrian refugee crisis and the education response in Lebanon, it reveals how colonial legacies, structural racism and the marketization of aid enable Global North actors to dictate policies and practices, while marginalizing local voices and knowledge. Yet in moments of crisis, community-led initiatives and smaller partnerships prove to be agile and responsive. Rather than offering celebratory accounts of “partnership,” the book draws on rigorous research to foreground the structural inequities that constrain them—while also pointing to possibilities for more just, community-driven alternatives. A vital resource for scholars, practitioners and policy makers, it offers concrete pathways for reshaping humanitarian practice to support sustainable, responsive education for refugee learners.