All in Reviews

Review of ‘The Refugee System’ by Rawan Arar and David Scott FitzGerald

Review of ‘The Refugee System’ by Rawan Arar and David Scott FitzGerald

Sameema Rahman
Reviews

In The Refugee System, Rawan Arar and David Scott Fitzgerald offer an avenue for overcoming the limits of the siloed approaches which direct research on refugees. Situating their work at the intersection of international migration, forced displacement, and conflict studies, they propose a ‘systems approach’ which ‘shows how “refugeedom” – the relationship between refugees, state, and society – interacts with refugeehood – the experience of becoming and being a refugee.’ Their findings attest that work on refugeedom is immeasurably strengthened by understanding how displaced persons themselves may view this matrix as they navigate its confines.

Precarity of welcome: review of Becky Taylor's Refugees in Twentieth-Century Britain

Precarity of welcome: review of Becky Taylor's Refugees in Twentieth-Century Britain

Katherine Mackinnon
Reviews

In her book Refugees in Twentieth Century Britain, Becky Taylor carefully explores the reception, experiences and significance of refugees in Britain across the twentieth century. Time and time again, she demonstrates how closely bound up the refugees’ lives have been with the British public’s own experiences of changing political and social factors, whether these two groups come face to face or not, and however much of a gulf the media may lead people to believe exists between ‘us’ and ‘them’. Making sense of a huge range and diversity of sources, the book beautifully demonstrates the complexities and contradictions of British society, and the many ways refugees encountered these complexities.

A new politics of solidarity?

A new politics of solidarity?

Hari Reed
Reviews, Aid Advocacy Activism

Over the past five years, tens of thousands of ‘ordinary people’ have undertaken voluntary work in support of, and in solidarity with, forced migrants in Europe. The New Internationalists: Activist Volunteers in the European Refugee Crisis, edited by Sue Clayton, aims to capture the scale and diversity of this international activist movement, lauded as one of the largest in European history. The book foregrounds the testimonial accounts of those volunteers who, with little to no training or support, worked to provide emergency aid, conduct sea rescues, develop community support structures, organise protests and advocacy campaigns and launch legal challenges with and on behalf of displaced people.

Forced to Flee: Engaging with conflict and community responses to refugees

Forced to Flee: Engaging with conflict and community responses to refugees

Lisa Matthews
Reviews, Refugees & Representation

Forced to Flee is an expansive exhibition covering a range of angles, from the triggers for displacement, the journey that refugees have made, crossing borders, refugee camps, and reception in the UK. The exhibition looks at historical situations as well as recent displacement, and some clear themes emerge. The strongest is an emphasis on the human, the personal experience. Another is the diversity of community responses to refugees arriving in the UK. The third is the focus on conflict as a cause of displacement—though this means other causes are neglected. Overall the exhibition is ambitious and timely.

Refugees at IWM – Filling in the gaps

Refugees at IWM – Filling in the gaps

E.E.
Reviews, Refugees & Representation

The exhibition includes refugees from a wide range of contexts. All looked similar to me: they had all lived in camps, fled their own country, and suffered on the journey to arrive at a safe place. The exhibition makes you wonder about how they lived. There are things that give an incomplete impression, but overall it is a really nice exhibition.

Refugees at IWM – Where turning away is an option

Refugees at IWM – Where turning away is an option

Hari Reed
Reviews, Refugees & Representation

There is nothing shocking, dramatic or distressing about Forced to Flee. It avoids representing any of the physical effects of forced displacement on the human body: anguish, injury, illness, destitution, death – or crying. The exhibition not only challenges the idea of the refugee as a silent suffering body, but interrupts the whole set of emotional relationships that go along with that idea. Forced to Flee spans a century of refugee history, but rather than taking each historical moment in turn, the exhibition follows the steps of a ‘typical’ refugee story: the departure, the journey, the arrival, the asylum procedure, the integration process.

Refugees at the Imperial War Museum: a virtual round table

Refugees at the Imperial War Museum: a virtual round table

Refugee History
Reviews, Refugees & Representation

This week we run a virtual round table about the Imperial War Museum’s Refugees season, especially the exhibition Forced to Flee. Drawing together the perspectives of researchers, practitioners, and those with lived experience of displacement, it seeks to engage with and reflect upon the scope and aims of the exhibition, its historical remit and comparisons, its artistic and curatorial choices, and its specific exhibits.

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