Communities of constraint: An ethnographic study of Tibetan refugees navigating protracted displacement and everyday vulnerability in Nepal

Schwartz, Kyle Richard

Abstract

Since the beginning of the Tibetan refugee crisis in 1959, discourses surrounding the Tibetan diaspora have emphasized their resilience in the face of hardship and characterized the group as a ‘successful’ refugee population in displacement. This thesis moves beyond previous resilience-focused narratives, which frequently obscure contradictory social vulnerability processes, and provides a historical analysis of the Swiss humanitarian relief project which established the refugee camps in Nepal in conversation with an in-depth ethnographic examination of everyday life in the Tashi-Palkhel Tibetan refugee camp. The empirical study integrates participant observation from four months of ethnographic fieldwork in Nepal, in-depth interviews from in and around the refugee camp, and archival data collected at the Swiss Federal Archives and the Archives of the Swiss Red Cross into a critical ‘regressive-progressive’ methodology inspired by the work of French sociologist Henri Lefebvre. The thesis argues that geopolitical and socio-legal factors have historically produced a constraining social context in Nepal, which the refugees must actively negotiate in their everyday lives. Through this investigation, the study reveals how these constraints produce unequal power dynamics with host demographics, which hinder refugee integration, lead to episodes of dispossession, and open the door to economic exploitation, while incentivizing the intensification of durable network ties within the camps and internationally. Additionally, the research explores the various strategies through which the refugees respond to the limitations of their constrained context, as well as the spatio-temporal practices which serve to enhance community ties and facilitate mutual aid practices within the camp. The thesis concludes with recommendations for future humanitarian practice, as well as a discussion proposing a means of moving beyond resilience thinking in studies with vulnerable populations through a ‘possibilities perspective’ emphasizing the dialectical interplay between constraint and resourcefulness.

Citation

Schwartz, K. R. Communities of constraint: An ethnographic study of Tibetan refugees navigating protracted displacement and everyday vulnerability in Nepal. (Thesis). Edinburgh Napier University

• Thesis Type: Thesis
• Deposit Date: Sep 4, 2024
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.17869/enu.2024.3789819
• Award Date: Jul 3, 2024