2025/03/05 by Moe Suzuki
Social Sciences · #Climate Change, Adaptation, Migration #Migration and Labor Dynamics #Migration, Refugees, and Integration
paper · pdf · doi:10.1080/01419870.2025.2468265
openalex publication_date 2025/03/05 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/26
While there is growing literature on the dehumanisation of refugees, there is comparatively little theorisation of humanisation. Humanisation is often assumed to be a progressive move of recognising the common humanity of refugees. Naming this the “humanisation as inclusion” thesis, I use decolonial theory to challenge the dichotomy between dehumanisation/exclusion and humanisation/inclusion. Based on thematic analysis of scholarship on the humanisation of refugees during the “European refugee crisis”, I identify four main elements that comprise the concept of humanisation: individualisation, common humanity, empathy, and voice. I use those elements to illustrate how a decolonial approach to humanisation sheds light on the modern/colonial hierarchies that continue to organise who is considered human, and problematises which humanity refugees are excluded from/included into. This broadens the scope of scholarship on humanisation and refugees: from whether refugees are included into humanity, to revealing and reimagining who is defining the human, and for what purpose.