Paper short abstract:

People with disabilities in Kyangwali refugee settlement in Uganda are entitled to food aid and negotiate support by means of a categorization system based on the concept of ‘vulnerability’.

Paper long abstract:

People with disabilities living in the refugee settlement Kyangwali in Uganda are considered among the most vulnerable by UNHCR and other humanitarian actors. Therefore, they are eligible for special food aid. In order to allocate scarce resources in the best possible and just way, humanitarian actors apply a categorization system based on the concept of 'vulnerability'. The rationale behind this technology - as a device that divides and classifies with a specific purpose - is anchored in Western ideas of distribution and personhood, revealing ideals of independence and self-reliance. This paper questions what happens, when a categorization system is appropriated to a socio-economic context that is characterized by a different logic of distribution. By looking at how food aid is conceptualized and realized, but also how it is integrated in people's everyday lives and relationships, the paper discusses notions and realities of dependence and independence. The concept of 'interdependence' (Ferguson 2015; Scherz 2014) allows differentiating understandings of (aid) dependency, as it considers the importance of making claims and securing support both towards the aid agencies and within people's social networks. The categories are not merely used as a bureaucratic tool for the agencies, but are also appropriated by people with disabilities to negotiate support. In this way, the technology creates both restrictions and opportunities for people with disabilities, which the service providers are often unaware of.