Refugee Camps as Neoliberal Space: The Case of Zaatari Refugee Camp in Jordan

While refugee camps litter the Third World, are they really the best solution? The Syrian refugee crisis is entering its eighth year and thousands of refugees are sequestered in camps across the Middle East and Europe. This... [ view full abstract ]

While refugee camps litter the Third World, are they really the best solution? The Syrian refugee crisis is entering its eighth year and thousands of refugees are sequestered in camps across the Middle East and Europe. This project looks at how the extension of global hegemonic power of the West through international and global institutions like the IMF and UNHCR is transforming the biopower that states have traditionally exerted over refugees. The refugee camp is a space where the nation-state temporarily surrenders sovereignty and colludes with global institutions, using neoliberal ideology to govern refugees as a deviant population. Refugees navigate this assemblage of sovereignty in order to not just receive humanitarian aid, but live political, economic, and social lives. Focusing on the case of the UNHCR-run Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan, the refugee camp is studied through the power-knowledge-space trialectic, informing how refugees are shaped to better serve neoliberal capitalism.