Skip Navigation


Journal of Refugee Studies Advance Access originally published online on May 3, 2007
Journal of Refugee Studies 2007 20(2):265-280; doi:10.1093/jrs/fem005
This Article
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
20/2/265    most recent
fem005v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Chatty, D.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author [2007]. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Researching Refugee Youth in the Middle East: Reflections on the Importance of Comparative Research

Dawn Chatty

Refugee Studies Centre, Department of International Development, University of Oxford, 3 Mansfield Road, OX1 3TB dawn.chatty{at}qeh.ox.ac.uk

This paper reflects on the value of comparative anthropological research with refugee youth. It examines a participatory research programme in eight field sites in the Middle East and North Africa. While recognizing the importance of the specific socio-political and cultural context of the different field sites, it has been possible to uncover similarities among refugee youth that would have been missed were it not for the exercise in comparison. What emerges from these findings, within research contexts which were viewed, by some, as unique and thus not comparable, are thematic similarities. Characteristic of many young people living in situations of prolonged forced migration are issues of multiple and conflicting identities and ambivalence to transgressed places; activism; and engagement in activities independent of existing humanitarian aid structures. Thus it can be seen that comparative studies can draw out the features and qualities which transcend borders, local cultures and the humanitarian aid regime to display the traits in common among refugee youth.

Key Words: refugee youth • prolonged forced migration • comparative research • participatory approach

MS received September 1, 2006 ; revised MS received January 1, 2007
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.