Seminar by Dr Jonathan Darling (Durham University) on “Crisis, Endurance and the Accommodation of Urban Refugees”, 12 June
Next Research Seminar of the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning
Dr Jonathan Darling, Assistant Professor in Human Geography at Durham University, will be presenting his research on Crisis, Endurance and the Accommodation of Urban Refugees.
The seminar will be held on 12 June 2018, from 12:00 to 13:30, at MSA, room 2.160. It will be chaired by Dr Lucas Oesch.
Abstract: From the rising demands on asylum housing produced through growing asylum applications throughout 2015 and 2016, to the series of scandals that have engulfed the out-sourcing of accommodation to private providers, the UK’s policy for housing asylum seekers has often been argued to represent a system in crisis. This paper explores the politics of accommodating asylum seekers at a time of austerity and growing anti-immigrant sentiment in the UK. Through exploring the accounts of asylum seekers accommodated in four cities, the paper argues that in considering the links between crisis, bordering, and urban life, we need to be attentive not just to the transformative role of crisis as a turning point, but also to the political investments made in forms of suffering that are held forever on the brink of crisis.
Jonathan Darling is Assistant Professor in Human Geography at Durham University. He is an urban and political geographer, whose research focuses on the urban nature of forced migration. He has recently completed a three-year ESRC Future Research Leaders award to examine the UK’s asylum dispersal system.
The seminar will start with two opening short presentations of:
- the FNR REFUGOV project on the Governance of Reception Facilities for Refugees in Luxembourg: Local and Global Perspectives by Dr Léa Lemaire
- the H2020 CEASEVAL project on the Evaluation of the Common European Asylum System under Pressure and Recommendations for Further Development by Dr Claudia Paraschivescu
For further information, please contact: lea.lemaire@uni.lu