From Exile to Homeland Return

Ethnographic Mapping to Inform Peacebuilding from Afar

Bibliographic Data

ID22010266
AuthorsNicolas Parent (0000-0001-9414-7027, McGill University, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume9
Issue1
Publication date2020-04-29
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueStability International Journal of Security and Development (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2165-2627 • E-ISSN: 2165-2627
PublisherDepartment of Peace Studies and International Development, University of Bradford (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.5334/sta.772
OpenAlexW3022556557
LanguageEN
References cited61

When violent conflict flares up, forced migration often follows. Ethnographic data shows that forced migrants remain attached to their places of origin and often express a desire to return once conflict has abated, be it after weeks, months, or years. Conversely, peacebuilders in the homeland have not effectively integrated displaced persons within their strategic programming. This is cause for concern considering the literature connecting the collapse of fragile peace to ‘refugee spoilers.’ There is a critical gap in peacebuilders’ commitment to understanding refugees’ needs and claims, and the implications these pose on peace stability following repatriation. This article argues that ethnography of refugees still living in exile can generate rich datasets useful to the development of peacebuilding programming. More than this, it proposes a methodology — ethnographic mapping — that can collect both spatial (maps) and narrative (descriptions) information in tandem and across cultural groups living in refugee camps

Ethnography · Forced migration · Homeland · Narrative · Peacebuilding · Political economy · Political science · Refugee · Repatriation · Sociology · Anthropology · Asian Geopolitics and Ethnography · Gender Studies · Law · Migration, Refugees, and Integration · Peacebuilding and International Security

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access