Glossary

Successful collaboration begins with a shared language, hence the need for a glossary. This joint effort of contributors from several teams ensures, on the one hand, terminological and conceptual coherence across not only our theoretical approaches, but also the qualitative case studies and quantitative research conducted in OPPORTUNITIES. On the other hand, our glossary facilitates communication between the academic side of the project and the fieldwork conducted by NGOs, uniting our teams working from Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Ghana, Italy, Mauritania, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania and Senegal.

For more information about the Structure and Objectives of the Glossary, click here...)

Reconceptualizations of existing scholarly terms and concepts that will be developed or redefined in the OPPORTUNITIES concept.

All A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Term	Definition
Refugee camp	A camp is usually referred to as an enclosed outdoor space for transitory, spontaneous settlement. In dictionaries, the notion of the camp is, first of all, associated with the military lexicon: it refers to the site of battle or the place where an army settles before battle. However, camp qualifies as an indoor space when it indicates a site of detention, a prison where people are kept unwillingly. Since World War II, the camp is also associated with the idea of concentration camp and labor camp as mass murder sites. A refugee camp designates the organized facilities where refugees and asylum seekers reside and are provided with basic needs – food, shelter and medical assistance – while waiting to be granted asylum or a visa. The refugee camp is the first safe space where refugees who cross a border – whether via sea or land – are welcomed and assisted. Refugee camps should be places of temporary and transitory passage but they often become a limbo for displaced migrants; see also The UN RefugeeAgency definition of the term. The OPPORTUNITIES project aims at acknowledging the complex and multifaceted notions of the camp by highlighting its temporary nature but also its importance as a space where narratives of and on migration begin to develop and be shared. ⇢ see also Asylum; Asylum seeker, Migrant, Refugee References and further reading: Braidotti, Rosi, and Hlavajova, Maria. 2018. Posthuman Glossary. London: Bloomsbury Academic. Nail, Thomas. 2015. The Figure of the Migrant. Stanford: Stanford University Press. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). 2021. Refugee Camps. UNHCR: The UN Refugee Agency. https://www.unrefugees.org/refugee-facts/camps/. Work Package: 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 [SA]

Term

Definition

Refugee camp

A camp is usually referred to as an enclosed outdoor space for transitory, spontaneous settlement. In dictionaries, the notion of the camp is, first of all, associated with the military lexicon: it refers to the site of battle or the place where an army settles before battle. However, camp qualifies as an indoor space when it indicates a site of detention, a prison where people are kept unwillingly. Since World War II, the camp is also associated with the idea of concentration camp and labor camp as mass murder sites.

A refugee camp designates the organized facilities where refugees and asylum seekers reside and are provided with basic needs – food, shelter and medical assistance – while waiting to be granted asylum or a visa. The refugee camp is the first safe space where refugees who cross a border – whether via sea or land – are welcomed and assisted. Refugee camps should be places of temporary and transitory passage but they often become a limbo for displaced migrants; see also The UN RefugeeAgency definition of the term. The OPPORTUNITIES project aims at acknowledging the complex and multifaceted notions of the camp by highlighting its temporary nature but also its importance as a space where narratives of and on migration begin to develop and be shared.

⇢ see also Asylum; Asylum seeker, Migrant, Refugee

References and further reading:

Braidotti, Rosi, and Hlavajova, Maria. 2018. Posthuman Glossary. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

Nail, Thomas. 2015. The Figure of the Migrant. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). 2021. Refugee Camps. UNHCR: The UN Refugee Agency. https://www.unrefugees.org/refugee-facts/camps/.

Work Package: 2, 3, 5, 6, 7

[SA]