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Mass refugee movements represent a complex policy problem to host governments as they challenge existing socio-economic and political structures. While scholarship on refugee migration tends to centre on the Global North, most refugees actually reside in the Global South, where the capacity to provide assistance is limited.
Shifting the focus from sensationalist rhetoric about mass migration to the North, The Politics of Refugee Policy in the Global South provides a comparative analysis of Lebanon’s and Jordan’s responses to the Syrian refugee movement, one of the largest displacements in modern history. Through extensive interviews and process tracing, Ola El-Taliawi uncovers the complex realities of refugee hosting and the hard choices governments make in light of this challenge. Building on the concept of complexity, El-Taliawi employs a unique methodology and analytical approach, painting a nuanced picture of asylum provision and identifying a spectrum of refugee hosting models.
More than ever, we need a better understanding of the unique politics of refugee policymaking in the Global South. This incisive book offers key insights for effective governance and reform of the global refugee regime.
“Providing evidence-based policy analysis, Ola El-Taliawi makes a very strong case that coordination and participatory planning between civil society actors and government institutions is essential for delivering an effective and coherent crisis response.” Nergis Canefe, editor of Transitional Justice and Forced Migration: Critical Perspectives from the Global South
"El-Taliawi emphasizes the importance of recognizing the multiple factors involved in developing refugee policy and how these often shift over time. For educators, the book provides a very useful chronicle of a crucial decade in Syrian refugee flows. It could also be a useful anchor volume for courses trying to cover the range of different countries' responses to sudden, large-scale refugee movements." Choice
"An innovative theoretical and methodological framework for analysing how Global South states respond to mass refugee movements. The committee is particularly impressed by the depth of the empirical work and the book’s strong commitment to epistemic justice. It amplifies the voices of local and regional scholars from Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan, and challenges knowledge hierarchies that often marginalise Global South expertise and outlines clear, actionable policy implications for refugee governance. The Politics of Refugee Policy in the Global South is timely and transformative, with implications both in scholarly research advancing epistemic justice, policy and societal impact." IPSA Charles H. Levine prize jury
"Provides a very useful chronicle of a crucial decade in Syrian refugee flows [and] a useful anchor volume for courses trying to cover the range of different countries' responses to sudden, large-scale refugee movements." Choice
"The Politics of Refugee Policy in the Global South is a critical, innovative, and deeply necessary addition to the field. It deserves a wide readership and will likely serve as a foundation for future research at the intersection of refugee policy, complexity theory, and decolonial scholarship." Journal of Refugee Studies
"[The Politics of Refugee Policy in the Global South] transparently communicates data sources, sampling, positionality, and limitations. Such a clear how-to guide promises to demystify and encourage early-career researchers to take on qualitative comparative policy research for years to come." H-Net