Governing the Displaced: Organized Abandonment from the Camp to the City

A talk by Professor Ali Bhagat on his book, The Displaced:  Race and Fantasy in Global Capitalism.

Abstract: This talk is centered around my upcoming book The Displaced: Race and Fantasy in Global Capitalism which examines the governance and survival of refugees in Paris and Nairobi. Using Ruth Wilson Gilmore's concept of organized abandonment, I argue that refugees face prevention and self-reliance strategies as two dominant modes of exclusion and inclusion. Based on interviews with government officials, NGOs, refugees, and other private sector actors, this talk understands refugee survival in urban centres on three prongs: shelter, work/entrepreneurship, and political belonging. In so doing, I hope to blur the boundaries between global North and South and place refugee governance in the wider context of neoliberal-led development.