Dr Umut Ozguc1
1Macquarie University, Australia
Biography:
Dr. Umut Ozguc is a lecturer in Politics and International Relations. She is a critical International Relations (IR) scholar working on border politics, critical security studies, settler colonialism, and International Relations theory. Her work cuts across several disciplines mainly IR, political geography, and international political sociology. Her research has been published in many journals including Political Geography, International Political Sociology, Geopolitics and Security Dialogue. She is the co-founder and co-convenor of Australian Critical Border Studies Network, co-chair of Women's Caucus Australian Political Studies Association.
Abstract:
Refugee simulations have been an emerging humanitarian advocacy strategy. Despite their increasing popularity, simulated refugee camps and journeys have been largely gone unnoticed in border studies. By mobilising the concept of simulated borderscapes, this paper seeks to introduce a new area of inquiry in our discussion of borders. The analysis shows that on the one hand these simulated camps seek to challenge negative perceptions of refugees and securitisation practices. On the other, they may empower mobility inequalities and power hierarchies that are embedded in the existing structures of contemporary borders. The discussion of refugee simulations shows the politics of humanitarian care and empathy and calls for a new form of solidarity against borders.