Staying out of Place

The Being and Becoming of Burundian Refugees in the Camp and the City

in Conflict and Society
Author:
Simon Turner University of Copenhagen sturner@dps.aau.dk

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DOI:
https://doi.org/10.3167/arcs.2016.020106
Keywords:
Burundi; camp; displacement; emplacement; Nairobi; refugee; Tanzania; temporality
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ABSTRACT

Based on ethnographic fieldwork among Burundian refugees living clandestinely in Nairobi and living in a refugee camp in Tanzania, the article argues that displacement can be about staying out of place in order to find a place in the world in the future. I suggest that the term dia-placement describes this sense of not only being out of place but also being en route to a future. Burundians in the camp and the city are doing their best to remain out of place, in transition between a lost past and a future yet to come, and the temporary nature of their sojourn is maintained in everyday practices. Such everyday practices are policed by powerful actors in the camp and are ingrained in practices of self-discipline in Nairobi. Comparing the two settings demonstrates that remaining out of place can take on different forms, according to context.

Contributor Notes

SIMON TURNER is Associate Professor at the Centre for Advanced Migration Studies, University of Copenhagen. For the past two decades his research has focused on conflict and displacement in the African Great Lakes region. He is the author of Politics of Innocence: Hutu Identity, Conflict and Camp Life (Berghahn Books, 2010).

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Conflict and Society

Advances in Research

Cover Conflict and Society
Article Category:
Research Article
Page Count:
15
Keywords:
Burundi; camp; displacement; emplacement; Nairobi; refugee; Tanzania; temporality
Print Publication Date:
01 Jun 2016
Online Publication Date:
01 Jun 2016
Copyright:
© Berghahn Books 2016

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