Project B05: Legal-Bureaucratic Human Categorization in the Postwar Period

From “Displaced Persons to “Refugee”

The project examines the significance of legal-bureaucratic human categorization for the pro-duction and establishment of generic person categories with regard to the specific case of the history of the “refugee.” It is posited that between 1944 and 1951, in conjunction with agency stemming from humans in transit, international actors expanded upon and ultimately left be-hind the situative category of “displaced person.” The project combines a multi-perspective approach with an analysis of local, international, and state practices of distinguishing between humans beyond the nation state, and, thus, further develops a socio-cultural approach for the research of the historical interplay of mobility and belonging.

Project team
Dr. Anne Friedrichs (PI)
Christina Wirth (PhD student)