Refugees’ Political Participation and State-(Re)Making in Displacement

In today’s world, the majority of refugees originate from states plagued by civil war and extreme violence. In civil war states, the legitimacy of the state as actor of protection is unsettled. Whether seeking refuge in authoritarian or democratic states, refugees often find themselves subjected to various forms of physical and symbolic violence at the hands of state actors. Yet, little is known about how refugees perceive and interact with the state throughout their displacement journeys, and how these perceptions shape their roles as political actors. Key questions remain unanswered: How do they experience and perceive the state, and state violence in particular, before, during and after displacement? And how do these perceptions affect their political involvement? Drawing upon the fields of anthropology of the state, conflict studies, political participation, and migration governance, RESTATE aims to provide a dynamic and comprehensive understanding of refugees’ experiences and interactions with the state, pinpoint dominant patterns of (non)participation throughout their displacement trajectories, and explore the implications of refugees’ political involvement in origin states and host states. Employing a novel and innovative comparative mixed-methods and multi-sited approach, studying displacement from three civil war states (Syria, Afghanistan, and South Sudan) via four major host states (Iran, Turkey, Uganda, Germany), the project aims at advancing academic knowledge of to what extent different types of political participation relate to different understandings of the state. The strategic selection of the case studies allows new theoretical insights into the impact of state violence on political participation due to similar levels of state violence in origin states and different types of hosting regimes in host states. The results will shed light on possible avenues for peacebuilding, conflict resolution, and political inclusion.