Displacing Territory: Syrian and Palestinian Refugees in Jordan

Displacing Territory explores the core concepts of territory and belonging and humanizes refugees by showing how their lived realities are affected by their imaginings of what constitutes territory and their sense of belonging to different places and territories. It reveals alternative or subordinated forms and scales of territory and argues that disproportionate attention to "refugee crises" in the Global North has diverted focus from other parts of the world that bear the responsibility of protecting the majority of the world's refugees.

Format: Hardback
Length: 200 pages
Publication date: 14 July 2023
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

Displacing Territory delves into the fundamental concepts of territory and belonging, while also humanizing refugees in the process. Based on extensive fieldwork with Palestinian and Syrian refugees in Jordan, the book explores how the lived realities of refugees are intricately shaped by their perceptions of what constitutes territory and their sense of belonging to various places and territories. Karen Culcasi demonstrates how these individual conceptualizations of territory often deviate from the Western-centric division of the world into states and territories, thereby revealing alternative or subordinated forms and scales of territory. She further argues that the disproportionate focus on "refugee crises" in the Global North has diverted attention away from other regions that bear the responsibility of protecting the majority of the world's refugees. By examining Jordan, a Global South state that hosts the second-largest number of refugees per capita, the book offers valuable insights into alternative approaches to addressing the situation of refugees elsewhere. Through the voices of refugees themselves, Culcasi compellingly challenges the prevailing notion in the Global North that refugees are aberrant, burdensome, or threatening.

Displacing Territory delves into the fundamental concepts of territory and belonging, while also humanizing refugees in the process. Based on extensive fieldwork with Palestinian and Syrian refugees in Jordan, the book explores how the lived realities of refugees are intricately shaped by their perceptions of what constitutes territory and their sense of belonging to various places and territories. Karen Culcasi demonstrates how these individual conceptualizations of territory often deviate from the Western-centric division of the world into states and territories, thereby revealing alternative or subordinated forms and scales of territory. She further argues that the disproportionate focus on "refugee crises" in the Global North has diverted attention away from other regions that bear the responsibility of protecting the majority of the world's refugees. By examining Jordan, a Global South state that hosts the second-largest number of refugees per capita, the book offers valuable insights into alternative approaches to addressing the situation of refugees elsewhere. Through the voices of refugees themselves, Culcasi compellingly challenges the prevailing notion in the Global North that refugees are aberrant, burdensome, or threatening.

Dimension: 229 x 152 x 20 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780226827049