Launch of Working Paper Transnational Figurations
Conceptualising protracted displacement and translocal connectivity through a process-oriented perspective
The EU-funded project TRAFIG (Transnational Figurations of Displacement) aims to contribute to the development of alternative solutions to protracted displacement that are tailored to the needs and capacities of displaced persons. TRAFIG Working Paper 1/2019 contains the project’s central concepts and key terms.
In TRAFIG Working Paper 1/2019 the authors Benjamin Etzold, Milena Belloni, Russell King, Albert Kraler and Ferruccio Pastore conceptualise protracted displacement and translocal connectivity through a process-oriented perspective. The theoretical foundation for TRAFIG’s research builds the concept of social figurations. “We understand figurations as dynamic social constellations between interdependent individuals that are produced in and through interactions and transactions”, the authors explain. On this basis, they re-define protracted displacement as a figuration, in which displaced people’s capabilities and opportunities are severely limited for prolonged periods of time. Multiple structural forces constrain them from using their capacities and making free choices: enduring displacing forces hinder return; marginalising forces prevent local integration; immobilising forces block chances to seek a future elsewhere.
The working paper also points out that protracted displacement is, however, much less static and fixed than commonly perceived. The researchers call for a deeper understanding of displaced people’s perspectives, capacities and practices and an acknowledgement of their everyday lives that often transgress places and territories. “Translocal connectivity and human mobility can serve as resources to cope with and move out of protracted displacement”, the authors underline. To develop new approaches to protracted displacement, research requires a move beyond the narrow frame of the three conventional durable solutions (return, local integration, resettlement) and instead to recognise and effectively build upon displaced people’s own preferences.
TRAFIG Working Paper 1/2019 was published in the framework of the EU-funded Horizon 2020 research project “Transnational Figurations of Displacement” (TRAFIG) which investigates long-lasting displacement situations at multiple sites in Asia, Africa and Europe and analyses options to improve displaced people’s lives.
The Working Paper was officially launched yesterday at a public event at the University of Sussex in Brighton, UK.
Please downlaod the full text of TRAFIG Working Paper 1\2019 “Transnational Figurations of Displacement-Conceptualising protracted displacement and translocal connectivity through a process-oriented perspective” here or at https://trafig.eu/output/working-papers
You can doenload the Press Release here.
Further information
Dr Benjamin Etzold
BICC, Pfarrer-Byns-Str. 1, 53121 Bonn
+49 (0)228 911 96-0
contact@trafig.eu