Apolitical Humanitarianism?: Neoliberal Governance and Bordering in a Transnational Interfaith Organization

In humanitarian organizations, neoliberal mechanisms of power exist in tension with the humanitarian desire to do good. Drawing upon digital ethnographic fieldwork, I explore how PeaceUnite, an international interfaith organization, navigates the challenges, obstacles, and contradictions posed by neoliberal entanglements. PeaceUnite navigates geopolitical and humanitarian borders through transnational peacebuilding efforts, and their responsibilization discourses emphasize local expertise while undermining local agency through their auditing and managerial frameworks of centralizing power. Despite the deeply political environment in which they work, PeaceUnite claims to be apolitical, a stance that conceals internal and external contradictions. I argue that these neoliberal discourses create an environment where state power is strengthened, and national borders reinforced, restricting PeaceUnite's organizational mission and reducing their impact.