McGill-Queen's Refugee and Forced Migration Studies

Self-organization plays an essential yet often overlooked role in the everyday lives of refugees in exile. By self-organizing, they challenge restrictions, claim political representation, foster social relations and belonging, and create ongoing economic opportunities. While government authorities and aid organizations are supposed to provide protection and assistance, refugees often continue to face adversities, restrictions, and risks, prompting them to establish and maintain their own support systems. Refugee-Led Organizations in Uganda offers nuanced insight into the problems arising from the aid system and especially the significance of the spectrum of informal and formalized self-organizations. Ulrike Krause, Gato Ndabaramiye Joshua, and Hannah Schmidt draw on a gender-sensitive understanding of relational agency and situated knowledge and use empirical research in Uganda's camp Kyaka II and the capital, Kampala, to reveal how individuals collectively contribute to their own support in times of emergency and in everyday life. Interwoven with reflections written by refugees in Uganda – Bengekya Mugay Gédéon, Noella Kabale, Paul, Janvier Hafasha, and Isreal Katembo, as well as the director of an LGBTQ+ refugee-led organization – the book centres on individuals' lived experiences of self-organization in exile. Ulrike Krause (Author) Ulrike Krause is professor of political science and director of the Center for International Gender Studies at the Institute for Political Science, University of Münster. Gato Ndabaramiye Joshua (Author) Gato Ndabaramiye Joshua is a counselling psychologist in Uganda and affiliated research associate with the Center for International Gender Studies at the University of Münster. Hannah Schmidt (Author) Hannah Schmidt is a researcher in the Migration Policy Research Group at the Institute of Social Sciences, University of Hildesheim. Interweaving empirical research with reflections written by refugees in Uganda, this book reveals the meanings of self-organizing in exile. Despite systemic constraints, refugees create, lead, and sustain their own organizations, fostering protection, social belonging, and economic opportunity. Series editors: Megan Bradley and James Milner Forced migration is a local, national, regional, and global challenge with profound political and social implications. Understanding the causes and consequences of, and possible responses to, forced migration requires careful analysis from a range of disciplinary perspectives, as well as interdisciplinary dialogue. The purpose of the McGill-Queen's Refugee and Forced Migration Studies series is to advance in-depth examination of diverse forms, dimensions, and experiences of displacement, including in the context of conflict and violence, repression and persecution, and disasters and environmental change. The series will explore responses to refugees, internal displacement, and other forms of forced migration to illuminate the dynamics surrounding forced migration in global, national, and local contexts, including Canada, the perspectives of displaced individuals and communities, and the connections to broader patterns of human mobility. Featuring research from fields including politics, international relations, law, anthropology, sociology, geography, and history, the series highlights new and critical areas of enquiry within the field, especially conversations across disciplines and from the perspective of researchers in the global South, where the majority of forced migration unfolds. The series benefits from an international advisory board made up of leading scholars in refugee and forced migration studies. Highlighting the vital roles of self-organizing in humanitarian response and the everyday lives of refugees. "Highlighting both camps and urban settings, illuminating the impact of COVID-19 and the experiences of LGBTI individuals, Refugee-Led Organizations in Uganda centres the v