| CODE | ANT2059 | ||||||||
| TITLE | Refugees and Displacement: Anthropological Perspectives | ||||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||||
| MQF LEVEL | 5 | ||||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Anthropological Sciences | ||||||||
| DESCRIPTION | The study of refugees and forced displacement is important because it deals with an issue of global and contemporary relevance. Today an estimated 80 million people are forcibly displaced, a ‘bleak milestone’ (UNHCR, 2020) that is on the rise. This is only 10% of the global migrant population but it denotes populations who are vulnerable, in need of protection and support, and generally on the margins of society. Although forced displacement is not a new phenomenon, studies show that the increase in war, conflict, persecution, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order in the last decade have all contributed towards increasing the numbers of people who are forced to move. In addition, the United Nations today also recognises that climate, environmental degradation and disasters increasingly converge with the drivers of refugee movements. These new developments produce new challenges for governments and policy-makers, and require new modalities in the management of forced migrants, in the processing of asylum claims as well as the treatment of these populations by host and transit states and communities. The study-unit will explore key contemporary discussions and debates on the protection of refugees, internally-displaced persons and stateless people. It will also explore the challenges of implementing humanitarian responses and the daily lives of displaced people in camps, during their journeys and in resettlement. In order to do this, the course will also give a grounding in the global refugee regime, including the history, framework and conceptualisation of the 1951 United National Refugee Convention and its implementation. This study-unit will take a primarily legal, political and social anthropology approach towards the study of refugees. Study-unit Aims: The aim of the study-unit is to familiarise students with some of the key concepts and contemporary debates that will enable them to understand why and how some people are forced to move, and what the implications of this is on their personal lives and on the transit/host communities and states. The study-unit will introduce students to contemporary forced displacement trends, and some management modalities undertaken by different states in both higher and lower income countries. This study-unit aims to nurture a knowledge-based and critical approach to situations of forced displacement, with a special focus on the contributions of legal, political and social anthropologists. Learning Outcomes: 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Describe the underpinning principles of the 1951 Convention and the global refugee regime; - Examine the dynamics and different actors involved in the global and national refugee systems; - Explore the different experiences of internally displaced persons and refugees; - Appraise the practical challenges in the management of displaced persons, and some of the key tensions arising out of such situations. 2. Skills By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to: - Engage in discussions about forced displacement, internally displaced persons and refugees; - Critically analyse situations of forced displacement, and its effect on different key actors and forced migrants; - Write an essay on this topic. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings: - Cabot, Heath. 2014. On the Doorstep of Europe: Asylum and Citizenship in Greece. University of Pennsylvania Press. - Chatty, Dawn. 2014. “Anthropology and Forced Migration.” In Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, E., Loescher, G., Long, K. and Sigona N. (eds) The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies. Oxford: Oxford University Press. - Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Elena (ed.) 2020. Refuge in a Moving World: Tracing Refugee and Migrant Journeys Across Disciplines. London: UCL Press. - Harrell-Bond, Barbara. 2002. “Can Humanitarian Work with Refugees be Humane?” Human Rights Quarterly 24: 51-85. - Kauffmann, T. 2015. The Agendas of Tibetan Refugees: Survival Strategies of a Government-In-Exile in a World of International Organisations. Berghahn Books. - Mountz, Alison. 2021. The Death of Asylum: Hidden Geographies of the Enforcement Archipelago. Oxford: Oxford University Press. - Turner, Simon. 2016. “What is a Refugee Camp?” Explorations of the Limits and Effects of the Camp.” Journal of Refugee Studies 29(2): 139-148. - Grayson, C-L. 2017. Children of the Camp: The Lives of Somali Youth Raised in Kakuma Refugee Camp, Kenya. Berghahn Books. |
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| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
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| LECTURER/S | Daniela DeBono |
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The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2023/4. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
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