Close

Events

Fragments of home: refugee housing, humanitarian design and the politics of shelter

Hosted by the Department of Geography and Environment and International Inequalities Institute

In-person and online public event (Auditorium, Centre Building)

Speakers

Dr Tom Scott-Smith

Dr Tom Scott-Smith

Nick Henderson

Nick Henderson

Discussant

Dr Myfanwy James

Dr Myfanwy James

Discussant

Chair

Professor Neil Lee

Professor Neil Lee

Abandoned airports. Shipping containers. Squatted hotels. These are just three of the many unusual places that have housed refugees in the past decade. The story of international migration is often told through personal odysseys and dangerous journeys, but when people arrive at their destinations a more mundane task begins: refugees need a place to stay. Governments and charities have adopted a range of strategies in response to this need. Some have sequestered refugees in massive camps of glinting metal. Others have hosted them in renovated office blocks and disused warehouses. They often end up in prefabricated shelters flown in from abroad.

In this talk, Tom Scott-Smith draws on his new book to discuss how humanitarians, architects, and government authorities have sought to provide shelter to refugees. Drawing on detailed ethnographic research into these shelters, he will reflect on their political implications and open up much bigger questions about humanitarian action. The event will explore how the principle of autonomy can offer a fruitful approach to sensitive and inclusive shelter for refugees.

Meet our speakers and chair

Tom Scott-Smith (@tomscottsmith) is Director of the Refugee Studies Centre at the University of Oxford and Associate Professor of Forced Migration. He is general editor of the Berghahn book series in Forced Migration and his series of short documentaries about refugee shelter in Europe, Shelter Without Shelter, won the UK Arts and Humanities Research in Film Award in 2020.

Nick Henderson is the CEO of the Irish Refugee Council. Prior to his appointment as CEO in October 2016, Nick worked with Transparency International and Amnesty International. Prior to coming to Ireland he was a legal representative for people seeking asylum with the Refugee Legal Centre in London from 2004-2010, during which he took a sabbatical and was Legal Officer with Jesuit Refugee Service in Cambodia. Nick was called to the Bar of Ireland in 2015.

Myfanwy James (@JamesMyfanwy) is an Assistant Professor in International Development and Humanitarian Emergencies at LSE. Her work examines the politics of humanitarian intervention in contexts of violent conflict, with a focus on the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Neil Lee (@ndrlee) is Professor of Economic Geography at LSE.

More about this event

This event will be available to watch on LSE Live. LSE Live is the new home for our live streams, allowing you to tune in and join the global debate at LSE, wherever you are in the world. If you can't attend live, a video will be made available shortly afterwards on LSE's YouTube channel.

The Department of Geography and Environment (@LSEGeography) is a centre of international academic excellence in economic, urban and development geography, environmental social science and climate change.

The International Inequalities Institute (@LSEInequalities) at LSE brings together experts from many LSE departments and centres to lead critical and cutting-edge research to understand why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

Hashtag for this event: #LSEEvents

Podcast & video 

A podcast of this event is available to download from Fragments of home: refugee housing, humanitarian design and the politics of shelter.

A video of this event is available to watch at Fragments of home: refugee housing, humanitarian design and the politics of shelter.

Podcasts and videos of many LSE events can be found at the LSE Public Lectures and Events: podcasts and videos channel.

LSE Blogs
Many speakers at LSE events also write for LSE Blogs, which present research and critical commentary accessibly for a public audience. Follow British Politics and Policy, the Business Review, the Impact Blog, European Politics and Policy and the LSE Review of Books to learn more about the debates our events series present.

Live captions

Automated live captions are available at this live event. Please note that this feature uses Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology, or machine generated transcription and is not 100% accurate.

Photography

Photographs taken on behalf of LSE are often used on our social media accounts, website and publications. At events, photographs could include broad shots of the audience and lecture theatre, of speakers during the talk, and of audience members as they participate in the Q&A.

If you are photographed participating in an event Q&A but would not like your photograph to be stored for future use, please contact events@lse.ac.uk.

Podcasts
We aim to make all LSE events available as a podcast subject to receiving permission from the speaker/s to do this, and subject to no technical problems with the recording of the event. Podcasts are normally available 1 week after the event. Podcasts and videos of past events can be found online.

Social Media

Follow LSE public events on X for the latest updates on all our events and ticket releases. 

Livestreams and archive videos of past lectures are shared on our YouTube channel while event podcasts can be found on the LSE Player.

Event updates and other information about what’s happening at LSE can be found on our Facebook page and for live photos from events and around campus, follow us on Instagram. 

Attending our events in-person or online? Join the conversation using #LSEEvents.

Accessibility
If you are planning to attend this event and would like details on how to get here and what time to arrive, as well as on accessibility and special requirements, please refer to LSE Events FAQ.  LSE aims to ensure that people have equal access to these public events, but please contact the events organiser as far as possible in advance if you have any access requirements so that arrangements, where possible, can be made. If the event is ticketed, please ensure you get in touch in advance of the ticket release date. Access Guides to all our venues can be viewed online.

WIFI Access
LSE has now introduced wireless for guests and visitors in association with 'The Cloud', also in use at many other locations across the UK. If you are on campus visiting for the day or attending a conference or event, you can connect your device to wireless. See more information and create an account at Join the Cloud.
Visitors from other participating institutions are encouraged to use eduroam. If you are having trouble connecting to eduroam, please contact your home institution for assistance.
The Cloud is only intended for guest and visitor access to wifi. Existing LSE staff and students are encouraged to use eduroam instead.
From time to time there are changes to event details so we strongly recommend that if you plan to attend this event you check back on this listing on the day of the event.

Share

  Sign up for news about events