Re-making a home in the wake of displacement

Abstract

Traditional social science often operates under a “sedentarist bias,” considering one’s culture, language, and identity are confined to the territory where they were born or to which they are ethnically identified. Under this model, refugees and migrants are frequently studied as passive victims of the times and are forever trapped in a state of transition. Furthermore, state “Border Regimes” frequently render migrants invisible or “illegal,” using dehumanizing controls to restrict movement.  

This conceptual research challenges these frameworks by synthesizing key anthropological theories on the production of space and place. This project uses the metaphor of “the world as the meshwork” to reframe human life as a series of open-ended journeys that constantly shape physical locations into meaningful places through their interactions. Within this framework, the Meshwork stands as the direct opponent of the Border Regime. While the Regime attempts to imprison people within territories, migrants resist constraint and reclaim their agency by moving and actively building a home in a new society. Drawing on a comparative analysis of diverse ethnographic literature and using a critical synthesis of existential anthropology and history, I argue that home is not a static location one loses as soon as they leave their country, but a rhythmic social process one performs to make a place feel like home. 

As global conflicts and climate change continue to drive mass displacement, the former models of studying uprootedness are insufficient. This calls for the study of active placement and challenge the structures maintaining global inequality.