About
Mission
To examine contemporary discourse of internal displacement beyond “Third World” conflicts towards Western states responsibility to protect individuals against prominent forms of internal forced migration.
Goals
- Collaborate with global experts in conducting evidence-based research projects to effect law and policy on global displacement concerns.
- Promote global awareness and disseminate knowledge on global displacement via publications, conference presentations, seminars and workshops.
- Advocate for and engage in academic and non-academic efforts to reduce the adverse effects of displacement
Background
Globally, we are experiencing the largest movement of people with millions fleeing violent conflicts in Africa, South America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Europe. Heightened impact of recent migrant crises across the Mediterranean, in Central America, Europe and the Middle East, demand new collaborative approaches to a millennia-old challenge of protecting those in search of peace and refuge. Forced displacement due to violent conflict, human rights abuse, climate change, natural disasters, economic disparity or induced development, although dominated by the rhetoric of border crossing is not limited to the Global South.
The vast majority of displaced people in Western societies, including Indigenous and homeless peoples, never cross international borders. Actually, in many ways, internally displaced peoples are more marginalized and vulnerable because fewer legal instruments apply to safeguarding their rights. Furthermore, the social, political and legal issues of wealthy states favoring immigration of one group (e.g., Western Europeans) over another (e.g., African migrants), yet unethically brain-draining resource poor communities of highly educated citizens, underpin the perpetuation of neo-colonial oppression. Obviously, a form of double standards on the part of advanced nations, unfair and unjust processes of migrations are buried deep within the façade of globalizations, democracy, and development models.
Law and Society Association Annual Meetings offer a unique opportunity to deconstruct and critically assess the complexities of forced migration discourse. While few Law and Society Collaborative Research Networks (CRN) focus on other forms of migration and citizenship, CRN11: Displaced Peoples provides a platform to critically examine global displacement beyond conventional internally displaced persons and refugees embedded in the politics of border crossing, citizenship and voluntary immigration. It is within this context that CRN11 seeks to examine the intersections of race, gender, class, power and privilege within the global migration polity of migrants, refugees and internally displaced persons.
The philosophy behind forming CRN11 lies in the coinage of the term used to describe it: i.e., “Displaced Peoples”. In seeking to normalize the concept of displacement as an umbrella term for generalized displacement, both internally and internationally, CRN11 adopts a broad perspective to forced migration to include all those compelled to leave their places of habitual abode due to natural disasters or man-made hazards, which include but not limited to internally displaced peoples, refugees, migrants, Indigenous peoples, homeless peoples, and mental displacement.
To this end, CRN11 hopes to engage everyone interested in global displacement issues to network, contribute and participate in our global collaboration.