The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies

Refugee and Forced Migration Studies has grown from being a concern of a relatively small number of scholars and policy researchers in the 1980s to a global field of interest with thousands of students worldwide studying displacement either from traditional disciplinary perspectives or as a core component of newer programmes across the Humanities and Social and Political Sciences. Today the field encompasses both rigorous academic research which may or may not ultimately inform policy and practice, as well as action-research focused on advocating in favour of refugees' needs and rights.

This authoritative Handbook critically evaluates the birth and development of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, and analyses the key contemporary and future challenges faced by academics and practitioners working with and for forcibly displaced populations around the world. The 52 state-of-the-art chapters, written by leading academics, practitioners, and policymakers working in universities, research centres, think tanks, NGOs and international organizations, provide a comprehensive and cutting-edge overview of the key intellectual, political, social and institutional challenges arising from mass displacement in the world today. The chapters vividly illustrate the vibrant and engaging debates that characterize this rapidly expanding field of research and practice.

Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Lecturer in Forced Migration, Refugee Studies Centre, Oxford Department of International Development, University of Oxford,Gil Loescher, Visiting Professor, Refugee Studies Centre, Department of International Development, University of Oxford,Katy Long, Lecturer in International Development, University of Edinburgh,Nando Sigona, Lecturer and Birmingham Fellow, School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham

Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh was the Director of the Refugee Studies Centre's International Summer School in Forced Migration between 2010 and 2012. Prior to joining the RSC, Elena was Senior Teaching Fellow in Development Studies and Research Fellow in Diaspora Mobilisation and International Security at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. She has also worked as a legal advisor for refugees in Cairo with AMERA-Egypt, as a refugee case-worker with Amnesty International Australia's Refugee Team, and as a legal clerk at the International Criminal Court, conducting research on crimes committed in Darfur (Sudan). She is Departmental Lecturer in Forced Migration at the Refugee Studies Centre, and Junior Research Fellow in Refugee Studies at Lady Margaret Hall, both at the University of Oxford.

Gil Loescher is a long-established expert on international refugee policy. For over 25 years, he was Professor of International Relations at the University of Notre Dame in the United States and was a visiting fellow at Princeton University, LSE, Oxford and the Department of Humanitarian Affairs at the US State Department in Washington, D.C. In recent years he has been Senior Research Fellow, Centre for International Studies, University of Oxford, Senior Fellow for Forced Migration and International Security at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London and a senior researcher at the European Council on Refugees and Exiles. He is Visiting Professor at the Refugee Studies Centre, Queen Elizabeth House, University of Oxford.


Katy Long's research examines the politics of migration in conflict and crisis affected areas, focusing in particular on refugee movements and international "solutions" to forced migration crises. Katy has worked extensively with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, particularly in considering how access to migration channels might contribute to resolving refugees' exile. She is a Lecturer in International Development at the University of Edinburgh, having previously been a Lecturer at the Department of International Development, London School of Economics and Political Sciences, and a post-doctoral researcher at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford.


Nando Sigona was previously a Senior Research Officer at the Refugee Studies Centre and Senior Researcher at the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) at the University of Oxford. His research explores the impact of globalisation, migration and the human rights regime on meanings and practices of citizenship and non-citizenship in countries affected by significant population movements. He is particularly interested in statelessness, diasporas and the state; Romani politics and anti-Gypsyism; 'illegality' and the everyday experiences of undocumented migrant children and young people; and governance and governmentality of forced migration in the EU. He is a Birmingham Fellow at the School of Social Policy, University of Birmingham.

1. Introduction: Refugee and Forced Migration Studies in Transition, Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Gil Loescher, Katy Long and Nando Sigona
Part I: Approaches: Old and New
2. Histories of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, Jerome Elie
3. International Law, Refugees and Forced Migration, Guy Goodwin Gil
4. Political Theory, Ethics and Forced Migration, Matthew Gibney
5. International Relations and Forced Migration, Alexander Betts
6. Anthropology and Forced Migration, Dawn Chatty
7. Sociology and Forced Migration, Finn Stepputat and Ninna Nyberg Sorensen
8. Livelihoods and Economics in Forced Migration, Karen Jacobsen
9. Geographies of Forced Migration, Michael Collyer
Part II: Shifting Spaces and Scenarios of Displacement
10. Encampment and Self-settlement, Oliver Bakewell
11. Urban Refugees and IDPs, Loren Landau
12. Protracted Refugee Situations, James Milner
13. Internal Displacement, Walter Kalin
14. Refugees, Diasporas and Transnationalism, Nick Van Hear
15. Forced Migrants as Illegal Migrants, Stephan Scheel and Vicki Squire
Part III: Legal and Institutional Responses to Forced Migration
16. Human Rights and Forced Migration, Jane McAdam
17. UNHCR and Forced Migration, Gil Loescher
18. UNRWA and Forced Migration, Susan Akram
19. State Controls: Borders, Refugees and Citizenship, Randall Hansen
20. Securitisation and Forced Migration, Anne Hammerstadt
21. Protection Gaps, Volker Turk and Rebecca Dowd
22. Statelessness, Alice Edwards and Laura Van Waas
23. Humanitarian Reform: from Co-ordination to Clusters and Beyond, Simon Russell and Vicky Tennant
24. Refugees and Humanitarianism, Michael Barnett
Part IV: Root Causes of Displacement
25. Conflict and Crisis-induced Displacement, Sarah Lischer
26. Development-induced Displacement, Christopher McDowell
27. The Environment-mobility Nexus, Roger Zetter and James Morrissey
28. Trafficking and Smuggling, Bridget Anderson
Part V: Lived Experiences and Representations of Forced Migration
29. Memories, Narratives and Representations of Forced Migration, Nando Sigona
30. Children and Forced Migration, Jason Hart
31. Gender and Forced Migration, Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh
32. Older Displaced Persons, Claudio Bolzman
33. Disability and Forced Migration, Mansha Mirza
34. Health and Forced Migration, Alaistair Ager
35. Religion and Forced Migration, David Hollenbach
36. Media, Refugees and other Forced Migrants, Terence Wright
Part VI: Rethinking Durable Solutions
37. Rethinking Durable Solutions, Katy Long
38. Local Integration, Lucy Hovil
39. "Voluntary" Repatriation and Reintegration, Laura Hammond
40. Resettlement, Joanne Van Selm
41. Burden Sharing and Refugee Protection, Martin Gottwald
Part VII: Regional Studies: Current Realities and Future Challenges
42. Forced Migration in West Africa, Marion Fresia
43. Forced Migration in Southern Africa, Jonathan Crush and Abel Chikanda
44. Forced Migration in East Africa and the Great Lakes, Gaim Kibreab
45. Forced Migration in the Middle East and North Africa, Sari Hanafi
46. Forced Migration in Broader Central Asia, Alessandro Monsutti and Bayram Balci
47. Forced Migration in South Asia, Paula Banerjee
48. Forced Migration in South East Asia and East Asia, Kirsten McConnahie
49. Forced Migration in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, Anne McNevin
50. Forced Migration in South America, Jose H. Fischel De Andrade
51. Forced Migration in Central America and the Caribbean, Megan Bradley
52. Forced Migration in North America, Susan Martin
53. Forced Migration in Europe, Roland Bank