The paper develops a conceptualisation of the land-conflict-restitution problematic as a threefol... more The paper develops a conceptualisation of the land-conflict-restitution problematic as a threefold nexus comprising ‘land-as-conflict’, ‘land-inconflict’ and ‘land-after-conflict’. This typology is then elaborated using the Cyprus case and comparative evidence from other conflict and post-conflict peace building processes. This wider conceptualisation of land and property issues brings into sharper focus the policy making and institutional challenges for their resolution in peace building. In Cyprus, ‘land-after-conflict’ constitutes the principal challenge to achieving a lasting resolution of the property issues for the 210, 000 displaced people – some 25% of the divided island’s population. The practical and logistical challenges of resolving land and property issues in Cyprus may be less complex than in other post-conflict peace building situations. However, they remain profoundly intractable because the protracted period since population displacement has imparted new dynamics, i...
Although the UNHCR has proposed resettlement, repatriation, or local integration as the three dur... more Although the UNHCR has proposed resettlement, repatriation, or local integration as the three durable solutions to mass refugee movement, negotiated peace agreements usually prioritize the return of displaced persons. Moreover, many refugees return spontaneously, ignoring or preempting voluntary return (i.e. planned repatriation associated with peace accords). For both these reasons and despite the dearth of systematic study of refugee preferences for return, UNHCR and other international bodies tend to assume that refugees prefer this 'solution' (Harrell-Bond 1989; Bradley 2013). This assumption may also be partly attributable to the politicization of refugee return, what Adelman and Barkan (2011) describe as the transformation of a 'right' into a 'rite'. The vocal demand for refugee justice may often disguise the actual preferences of displaced persons and impede the systematic study of the processes of remixing and reintegration after peace agreements. There are few fine-grained historical or ethnographic studies of specific cases of remixing and reintegration that give us purchase on the mechanisms that allow for successful return, whether voluntary or spontaneous.The three papers that follow explore the problematic and ambiguous meaning of return and home for refugees. The overview article by Roger Zetter and two ethnographic cases studies that both illustrate and further theorise the dynamics that Zetter discusses seek to fill this lacuna by asking why and how people return home and by interrogating the processes of remixing after communities have been disentangled by conflict. Zetter's overview article provides a framework for thinking about the voluntary and iterative nature of successful cases of return. As he notes, 'Whether voluntary or spontaneous, refugee return is episodic, intermittent and often not permanent', owing to the social, political, and economic conditions of return. Emphasizing that refugees may return to a territory without necessarily being able to or wanting
Globally, over 40 million people have been forced to leave or flee their homes due to conflict, v... more Globally, over 40 million people have been forced to leave or flee their homes due to conflict, violence, and human rights violations either as refugees outside their country of origin or internally displaced persons (IDPs). Forced displacement is a humanitarian crisis: but it also produces developmental impacts, short and longer term, negative and positive - affecting human and social capital, economic growth, poverty reduction efforts, environmental sustainability and societal fragility. A prevailing view is that refugees are a burden on the development aspirations of host countries and populations and that negative socio-economic and environmental impacts and costs outweigh the positive contributions (actual or potential) that forcibly displaced people might make. The losses incurred by the displaced populations themselves reinforce perceptions of vulnerability and dependency and thus assumptions of the burden they might impose. This study provides such a methodology. The project...
In 2007, as the new Director of the Refugee Studies Centre, I will have the enormous pleasure of ... more In 2007, as the new Director of the Refugee Studies Centre, I will have the enormous pleasure of leading its 25th anniversary celebrations.
This guide is a timely contribution to the debate about the relationship between research and tea... more This guide is a timely contribution to the debate about the relationship between research and teaching, given the current review of research assessment being conducted by the UK funding bodies. The Learning and Teaching Support Network believes that securing positive synergies between research and teaching can and should be one aim of higher education policy. This view is held in common with partner bodies such as the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. This guide argues that positive relationships may be created between research and teaching but that they do not necessarily occur automatically. This guide arises from the LTSN Generic Centre project entitled Linking Research and Teaching in the Disciplines. It aims to give departmental leaders, teaching and research staff, and educational developers, ideas, examples and guidance based on research evidence and experience. In addition subject specific examples and resources are available on the LTSN Generic Centre...
The paper develops a conceptualisation of the land-conflict-restitution problematic as a threefol... more The paper develops a conceptualisation of the land-conflict-restitution problematic as a threefold nexus comprising ‘land-as-conflict’, ‘land-inconflict’ and ‘land-after-conflict’. This typology is then elaborated using the Cyprus case and comparative evidence from other conflict and post-conflict peace building processes. This wider conceptualisation of land and property issues brings into sharper focus the policy making and institutional challenges for their resolution in peace building. In Cyprus, ‘land-after-conflict’ constitutes the principal challenge to achieving a lasting resolution of the property issues for the 210, 000 displaced people – some 25% of the divided island’s population. The practical and logistical challenges of resolving land and property issues in Cyprus may be less complex than in other post-conflict peace building situations. However, they remain profoundly intractable because the protracted period since population displacement has imparted new dynamics, i...
Although the UNHCR has proposed resettlement, repatriation, or local integration as the three dur... more Although the UNHCR has proposed resettlement, repatriation, or local integration as the three durable solutions to mass refugee movement, negotiated peace agreements usually prioritize the return of displaced persons. Moreover, many refugees return spontaneously, ignoring or preempting voluntary return (i.e. planned repatriation associated with peace accords). For both these reasons and despite the dearth of systematic study of refugee preferences for return, UNHCR and other international bodies tend to assume that refugees prefer this 'solution' (Harrell-Bond 1989; Bradley 2013). This assumption may also be partly attributable to the politicization of refugee return, what Adelman and Barkan (2011) describe as the transformation of a 'right' into a 'rite'. The vocal demand for refugee justice may often disguise the actual preferences of displaced persons and impede the systematic study of the processes of remixing and reintegration after peace agreements. There are few fine-grained historical or ethnographic studies of specific cases of remixing and reintegration that give us purchase on the mechanisms that allow for successful return, whether voluntary or spontaneous.The three papers that follow explore the problematic and ambiguous meaning of return and home for refugees. The overview article by Roger Zetter and two ethnographic cases studies that both illustrate and further theorise the dynamics that Zetter discusses seek to fill this lacuna by asking why and how people return home and by interrogating the processes of remixing after communities have been disentangled by conflict. Zetter's overview article provides a framework for thinking about the voluntary and iterative nature of successful cases of return. As he notes, 'Whether voluntary or spontaneous, refugee return is episodic, intermittent and often not permanent', owing to the social, political, and economic conditions of return. Emphasizing that refugees may return to a territory without necessarily being able to or wanting
Globally, over 40 million people have been forced to leave or flee their homes due to conflict, v... more Globally, over 40 million people have been forced to leave or flee their homes due to conflict, violence, and human rights violations either as refugees outside their country of origin or internally displaced persons (IDPs). Forced displacement is a humanitarian crisis: but it also produces developmental impacts, short and longer term, negative and positive - affecting human and social capital, economic growth, poverty reduction efforts, environmental sustainability and societal fragility. A prevailing view is that refugees are a burden on the development aspirations of host countries and populations and that negative socio-economic and environmental impacts and costs outweigh the positive contributions (actual or potential) that forcibly displaced people might make. The losses incurred by the displaced populations themselves reinforce perceptions of vulnerability and dependency and thus assumptions of the burden they might impose. This study provides such a methodology. The project...
In 2007, as the new Director of the Refugee Studies Centre, I will have the enormous pleasure of ... more In 2007, as the new Director of the Refugee Studies Centre, I will have the enormous pleasure of leading its 25th anniversary celebrations.
This guide is a timely contribution to the debate about the relationship between research and tea... more This guide is a timely contribution to the debate about the relationship between research and teaching, given the current review of research assessment being conducted by the UK funding bodies. The Learning and Teaching Support Network believes that securing positive synergies between research and teaching can and should be one aim of higher education policy. This view is held in common with partner bodies such as the Institute for Learning and Teaching in Higher Education. This guide argues that positive relationships may be created between research and teaching but that they do not necessarily occur automatically. This guide arises from the LTSN Generic Centre project entitled Linking Research and Teaching in the Disciplines. It aims to give departmental leaders, teaching and research staff, and educational developers, ideas, examples and guidance based on research evidence and experience. In addition subject specific examples and resources are available on the LTSN Generic Centre...
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Papers by Roger Zetter