Local and National Belonging in Exile: Convergence or Divergence?

Abstract

Hovil analyses the interaction between local and national belonging through the presentation of a number of case studies with displaced groups around the Great Lakes region. She considers both the extent to which these two ‘forms’ of belonging function independently of each other, and the extent to which they are interdependent. Drawing on rich empirical data from the Great Lakes region, she considers the vulnerabilities that are created when refugees create local legitimacy but lack national belonging, and vice versa. Ultimately she argues that for refugees to find a place of safety they need to create both local and national bonds of belonging that legitimise their right not only to live in a particular state, but to have access to resources in a particular locality.