Louise Olliff – författare

Who helps in situations of forced displacement? How and why do they get involved?In Helping Familiar Strangers, Louise Olliff focuses on one type of humanitarian group, refugee diaspora organizations (RDOs), to explore the complicated impulses, practices, and relationships between these activists and the "familiar strangers" they try to help. By documenting findings from ethnographic research and interviews with resettled and displaced persons, RDO representatives, and humanitarian professionals in Australia, Switzerland, Thailand, and Indonesia, Olliff reveals that former refugees are actively involved in helping people in situations of forced displacement and that individuals with lived experience of forced displacement have valuable knowledge, skills, and networks that can be drawn on in times of humanitarian crisis.We live in a world where humanitarians have varying motivations, capacities, and ways of helping those in need, and Helping Familiar Strangers confirms that RDOs and similar groups are an important part of the tapestry of care that people turn to when seeking protection far from home.

Who helps in situations of forced displacement? How and why do they get involved?In Helping Familiar Strangers, Louise Olliff focuses on one type of humanitarian group, refugee diaspora organizations (RDOs), to explore the complicated impulses, practices, and relationships between these activists and the "familiar strangers" they try to help. By documenting findings from ethnographic research and interviews with resettled and displaced persons, RDO representatives, and humanitarian professionals in Australia, Switzerland, Thailand, and Indonesia, Olliff reveals that former refugees are actively involved in helping people in situations of forced displacement and that individuals with lived experience of forced displacement have valuable knowledge, skills, and networks that can be drawn on in times of humanitarian crisis.We live in a world where humanitarians have varying motivations, capacities, and ways of helping those in need, and Helping Familiar Strangers confirms that RDOs and similar groups are an important part of the tapestry of care that people turn to when seeking protection far from home.

This book brings together new research that engages with the concept of diaspora from a uniquely Australian perspective and provides a timely contribution to the development of research-informed policy, both in the Australian context and more broadly. It builds on the understanding of the complex drivers and domains of diaspora transnationalism and its implications for countries and people striving to develop human capabilities in a globally interconnected but also fractured world. The chapters showcase a wide range of diaspora experiences from culturally and linguistically diverse communities in Australia. This work demonstrates the usefulness of diaspora as a concept to explore the experiences of migrant and refugee communities in Australia and the Pacific and further understanding on the peacebuilding, conflict, economic, humanitarian and political engagements of diaspora communities globally. The insights and findings from the breadth of research featured shed light on broader debates about diasporas, migration and development, and transnationalism.