Abstract

In public discourse, displaced people are often portrayed as burdens to their host communities that add additional pressure to already scarce resources. Recently, scholars and practitioners are paying more attention to the resilience or self-reliance of refugees. Our article takes yet another step by arguing that rather than being dependent or merely self-reliant, displaced people may in fact enrich local economies by introducing products from their communities of origin into the host markets. Based on qualitative research with internally displaced persons in an urban setting in the east of Congo, we show that, through entrepreneurship and innovation, displaced people actually add value to the local economy and carve out their own niche, thanks to their access to resources in their community of origin. This contributes to a more positive attitude among host communities towards displaced and is beneficial to their local integration, but is not a blueprint strategy that can be transferred to other settings.

中文翻译：

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国内流离失所者向本地一体化的螺旋式上升：刚果民主共和国的代理机构和经济学

摘要

在公开演讲中，流离失所者常常被描绘成他们所在社区的负担，给原本稀缺的资源增加了更多压力。最近，学者和从业人员更加关注难民的复原力或自力更生。我们的文章采取了又一个步骤，认为流离失所者不仅可以依靠自己或依靠自己，还可以通过将其原籍社区的产品引入东道国市场来丰富当地的经济，而不是仅仅依靠自力更生。根据对刚果东部城市环境中的内部流离失所者的定性研究，我们表明，通过企业家精神和创新，流离失所者实际上可以为当地经济增值，并凭借自己在喀麦隆获得的资源来开拓自己的利基市场。他们的原籍社区。