The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies
Book project from 2010 to 2014
Published by Oxford University Press
Examining the origins of refugee and forced migration studies, and charting its future direction
©
Ibrahim El-Salahi
Nearly four years in the making, The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, published in June 2014 by Oxford University Press, traces the origins and development of refugee and forced migration studies over the past thirty years and sets out the major challenges facing those working with and on behalf of forced migrants today. Edited by Elena Fiddian-Qasmiyeh, Gil Loescher, Katy Long and Nando Sigona, this authoritative work contains contributions from some of the world’s foremost academics, practitioners and policymakers in the field.
In 2010, the editors first began planning a commemorative volume ahead of the RSC’s 30th anniversary – fêted in 2012 – as a way of celebrating the role played by the RSC in refugee and forced migration studies and of bringing RSC staff together on a joint project. After discussions with Oxford University Press the following year, the project evolved into a major publication as part of the renowned Oxford Handbook series. Ranging across 14 disciplines, the series provides authoritative, comprehensive surveys of original research and debates in specific subjects.
A comprehensive survey
The scope of The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies is twofold: it examines the origins of refugee and forced migration studies, and charts its future direction. In doing this, the authors provide a comprehensive survey of a field that has grown from small, limited origins to encompass a range of disciplines. Not everyone agrees on how exactly forced migration should be defined and where the boundaries of its study should lie, and the book reflects a variety of perspectives, allowing readers to place them in a meaningful – and useful – historical and academic context.
With a recent UN report revealing that there are now more than 50 million forcibly displaced people around the world, and the conflicts driving this displacement looking ever more entrenched, the perspectives, knowledge and experiences contained in this Handbook are more vital than ever. By pausing to look back over the last thirty years of refugee and forced migration studies, the editors hope to give clarity on what can and must be done meet the needs of the displaced.
Writing in the Handbook’s Foreword, António Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, says that 'in addition to being an essential tool for academics and students of forced migration...[the Handbook] opens up the field to a wide range of stakeholders.' He adds:
I commend the Oxford Refugee Studies Centre for providing this comprehensive overview, which covers nearly every aspect of contemporary refugee and forced displacement studies…In particular, I hope that the Handbook will be a valuable tool for practitioners in the field and assist them in working together to protect a fundamental human value – that of providing refuge to people fleeing violence and persecution.
The Handbook is divided into seven parts:
- Part I: Approaches: Old and New
- Part II: Shifting Spaces and Scenarios of Development
- Part III: Legal and Institutional Responses to Forced Migration
- Part IV: Root Causes of Displacement
- Part V: Lived Experiences and Representations of Forced Migration
- Part VI: Rethinking Durable Solutions
- Part VII: Regional Studies: Current Realities and Future Challenges
Driving trends and inspiring new research
The field of refugee and forced migration studies has undergone broad shifts over the past three decades, and a number of important trends are set to continue. Chief among these is the opportunity – and need – for collaboration across disciplines in order to better understand the complex causes of displacement.
It is the aim of the editors to help drive these trends forward, while still retaining the core focus that makes refugee and forced migration studies so important: that of working to improve the lives of the displaced. With the Handbook, the editors hope to ‘…inspire new researchers to join our field, and to help build a sense of common purpose linking, but not limiting, the diverse interests of existing researchers in this complex and fascinating field.’
How to order
Order online from Oxford University Press
Download the Introduction (preview) (PDF 973KB)
The team
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Nando Sigona
Professor of International Migration and Forced Displacement, and Director, Institute for Research into Superdiversity, University of Birmingham
Related news
Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies now available!
13 June 2014
We're pleased to announce that The Handbook has been published and is now available to purchase from Oxford University Press
Introduction to the forthcoming Oxford Handbook now available for preview
3 June 2014
Download the opening chapter of the Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies, by Elena Fiddian Qasmiyeh, Gil Loesher, Katy Long and Nando Sigona
UN High Commissioner for Refugees commends RSC for The Oxford Handbook of Refugee and Forced Migration Studies
10 May 2014
The Editors are very pleased to announce that the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, António Guterres, has contributed the Foreword to the 53-chapter Handbook, which will be published in June 2014