INVITATION FOR PHD DEFENCE - Sofie Elbæk Henriksen

In order to obtain the PhD degree, Sofie Elbæk Henriksen has submitted her thesis entitled:    

Big Tech to the Rescue?  An Ethnographic Study of Corporate Humanitarianism in the Refugee Crisis    

This PhD project explores the rise of technology companies as humanitarian actors in refugee crises and the tensions of combining humanitarianism with corporate interests. Private sector companies are increasingly involved in responding to humanitarian crises, correlating with a growing willingness from for-profit companies to “do good” and engage in social causes. This dissertation combines theoretical literature on critical refugee and border studies, humanitarianism, and digital capitalism to analyze the humanitarian engagement of Big Tech in the global refugee crisis as corporate humanitarian solutionism: A particular brand of corporate humanitarianism influenced by Silicon Valley imaginaries of business, technology, and innovation. Using ethnographic methods, the dissertation shows that the corporate humanitarian practices of Big Tech promote a type of aid that is asymmetrical, profit-oriented, and skewed toward business interests. In doing so, the dissertation emphasizes the importance of critically analyzing corporate forms of helping, even when such practices are framed in the terminology of “good intentions,” “non-profit,” and “doing good.”    

The thesis will be available from research.cbs.dk

Primary Supervisor:  
Professor Lisa Ann Richey  
Department of Management, Society and Communication  
Copenhagen Business School    

Secondary Supervisors:    
Senior Researcher Sine Plambech  
Department of Migration and Global Order  
Danish Institute for International Studies    

Assessment Committee:    
Associate Professor Kristian Bondo (Chair)  
Department of Management, Society and Communication  
Copenhagen Business School    

Associate Professor Polly Pallister-Wilkins  
Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences  
University of Amsterdam    

Research Professor Antonio De Lauri  
Chr. Michelsen Institute

Date: 31 January 2023  
Time: 14:00-16:00  
Location: Dalgas Have  
Room: DH.Ø.0.41  
Reception: DH.V.2.88    

*The CBS PhD School will host a reception, which will take place immediately after the defence.