2024/10/09 by Sebastián Huhn, Christoph Raß · 1 voice · 10 citations
Social Sciences · #Action (physics) #Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography #Bureaucracy #Context (archaeology) #Displaced person #Epistemology #Forced migration #Gender studies #History #Law #Migration and Labor Dynamics #Migration, Refugees, and Integration #Political economy #Political science #Politics #Reflexivity #Refugee #Social science #Sociology
paper · doi:10.1080/01419870.2024.2404488
published in Ethnic and Racial Studies 48(4), 718-739 (Routledge)
openalex publication_date 2024/10/09 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/06/26
Recent migration research suggests using “displaced persons” as a broader, more inclusive term than “refugees”, affording us an opportunity to recall the historical genesis and transformation of the concept of “displaced persons”. The concept emerged in the 1940s in the context of the control of forced migration. This article traces the evolution of the term “displaced person”, arguing it was created as a “category of action” for bureaucratic and political purposes, rather than to describe social realities. Understanding this historical context reveals more broadly how such categories have always been tools for political control, underscoring the need for reflexivity in migration studies.