Paper short abstract:

The study traces the meaning of emergency shelters for refugees. Much contemporary scholarship has focused on refugees as actors and has been critical of the notion of refugee and 'bare life.' However there are fewer discussions of refugees' lives as it intersects with their physical spaces.

Paper long abstract:

The study explores the notion of emergency shelters for refugees. The concept of emergency shelters is based on the premise that refugees will reside in these spaces until a more permanent solution is put forward. This notion is misleading as the average life of an individual in such dwellings can be as long as 17 years. For example, the refugee shelters in Calais have continued to be in existence in various forms since 1999. Similarly, a resistance in an abandoned school, which was started by refugees in 2012 in Berlin, has continued to date. The iconic Hangars in Tempelhofer Park in Berlin were converted to emergency shelters in 2015. In this regard, the study explores and describes the idea of refugee shelters as perceived and understood by the people who have directly experienced such shelters. More specifically, the paper interrogates the types of refugees' narratives co-constructed within these dwellings and how refugees' narratives shape and influence their modes of dwelling in these emergency spatials. Much contemporary scholarship has focused on the notion of refugees as actors and has been critical of Agamben's idea of the refugee and 'bare life.' However, there are fewer discussions of refugees' everyday lives and narratives as it intersects with everyday physical and material spaces. Data are drawn on in-depth interviews and ethnographic observations of refugees residing in shelters such as the abandoned school and the Hangars in Berlin.