NEOLIBERAL HUMANITARIANISM AND POSTCOLONIAL DISPLACEMENT IN THE BEEKEEPER OF ALEPPO

Abstract

In an age of escalating displacement driven by war, persecution, and economic inequality, the figure of the refugee has become central to postcolonial narratives. The Beekeeper of Aleppo (2019) by Christy Lefteri offers a powerful literary exploration of forced migration, trauma, and survival, while simultaneously critiquing the structures of neoliberal humanitarianism that claim to aid refugees. This paper analyzes how Lefteri’s novel reveals the contradictions and limitations of global humanitarian efforts, showing how refugees are often controlled, commodified, and reduced to cases within aid systems that operate according to neoliberal logics of efficiency, marketability, and security. Drawing on the work of theorists such as Aihwa Ong, Arjun Appadurai, and Achille Mbembe, this study argues that The Beekeeper of Aleppo exposes the tension between refugees’ search for dignity and the constraining frameworks of camps, asylum interviews, and NGO interventions. The novel depicts displacement not only as the loss of home but also as entry into a system that disciplines the displaced subject, demanding particular performances of suffering. By focusing on Nuri and Afra’s journey, this paper highlights how literature critiques the ethics of aid and challenges readers to reconsider the human costs of neoliberal humanitarianism.