Displaced person(s): the production of a powerful political category

2024/10/09 by Sebastián Huhn, Christoph Raß · 1 voice
Social Sciences · #Migration, Refugees, and Integration #Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography #Migration and Labor Dynamics

paper · doi:10.1080/01419870.2024.2404488

Abstract

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.

Discussions

• Christoph Rass (@nghm-uos.bsky.social) and I recently published the following article on the genesis and “career” of the concept of the “displaced person” in the 1940s. Emerging in 1943 and disappeari [bsky, 17 points, 1 comments]

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