| Sumario: | Contributing to ongoing debates relating to diverse meanings and practices of humanitarianism, this article traces and examines refugees' own understandings of 'humanitarianism' as spontaneous, informal and volunteer-based acts of disinterested assistance and 'real generosity'. Such understandings specifically refer to either individually-initiated or collective acts of philanthropy and solidarity characterised by an informal and discrete, 'undisclosed' or 'invisible' nature. Dwelling on the ethics of spontaneous aid, including with regards to acts of both intra- and inter-group assistance, provides an important entry point to interrogate the epistemological foundations of hegemonic humanitarianism worldwide, which, over many decades, has repeatedly operated in spaces which remain distant from the materiality of the lives, ethics, and views of refugees.
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