Navigating Citizenship and Education: Refugees, Belonging, and the Production of the “Good Citizen”

Dear Colleagues,

The world is facing its largest humanitarian crisis to date, with the United Nations approximating that over 123 million people have been forcibly displaced from their homes due to persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations, and/or natural disasters. The bulk of these refugees are young people who lack access to basic rights, including education. Refugee education scholars have long argued the importance of reimagining education as an essential response to humanitarian crises, alongside providing food, shelter, and other provisions/programs, as a means of providing safety and normalcy to those displaced by conflict or disaster. Building on that call, this Special Issue examines how formal and informal education shape refugees’ sense of belonging, as well as their capacity to become full citizens in their new contexts. Our understanding of citizenship focuses on the everyday experiences through which individuals develop a sense of belonging, as well as civic and political identities and practices. Citizenship in this sense is a lived experience, and involves much more than one’s “legal” status. It explores how, amid unequal social structures, refugees and their communities are differentially positioned to access rights, experience a sense of belonging, and engage in civic and political life in their new host countries. Furthermore, this Special Issue examines the ways in which education is involved in the production of definitions of the “good refugee citizen”. These expectations point to the ways refugees are asked to prove worthy of refuge within host countries, raising questions about who is permitted to belong, on what terms, and at what cost.

This Special Issue aims to answer the following research questions through theoretical and empirical studies:

• How can schools, universities, and other informal learning spaces act as sites for social cohesion, belonging, and active citizenship for refugees in contexts of displacement?
• How do refugees learn, perform, and/or critique expectations of the “good refugee citizen”?

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Sally Bonet
Dr. Samira Chatila
Guest Editors

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