Abandoned airports. Shipping containers. Squatted hotels. These are just three of the many unusual places that have housed refugees in the past decade. The story of international migration is often told through personal odysseys and dangerous journeys, but when people arrive at their destinations a more mundane task begins: refugees need a place to stay. Governments and charities have adopted a range of strategies in response to this need. Some have sequestered refugees in massive camps of glinting metal. Others have hosted them in renovated office blocks and disused warehouses. They often end up in prefabricated shelters flown in from abroad.

In this talk, Tom Scott-Smith draws on his new book, Fragments of Home: Refugee Housing and the Politics of Shelter (Stanford University Press, 2024) to discuss how humanitarians, architects, and government authorities have sought to provide shelter to refugees. Drawing on detailed ethnographic research into these shelters, he will reflect on the political implications of these shelters and open up much bigger questions about humanitarian action. Building on the conclusions from his boo, he will explore how the principle of autonomy can offer a fruitful approach to sensitive and inclusive shelter for refugees.

The seminar will be followed by drinks in the Hall.