With the following research question as starting point: how can religion be interpreted and understood within the spatial and situational context of a refugee camp?, the aim of this thesis has been to explore practices and expressions in borderlands, specifically refugee camps, that can be interpreted as religious practices. This has been done to shed light on life in displacement as well as to explore religion as a migrating phenomenon in a world with millions of people living displaced. To do so, I have conducted participant observations in two refugee camps to observe practices and expressions of borderland religion. I have in this thesis presented these camps as the context and location of my research, and given an
overview of the background and research context for the topic of migration and religion. I have introduced the concept of borderland religion which has been the theoretical starting point of this thesis. I have introduced the applied method being participant observation and reflected on ethical aspects of conducting this method in research with vulnerable groups. I have discussed central observations from the participant observation in light of relevant theories, being post-colonial theory as presented by Federico Settler, Gayatri Spivak and Giorgio Agamben. I have also introduced and applied spatial theory as created by Henri Lefebvre and presented by Kaia Rønsdal and Trygve Wyller. I will now present the conclusive findings from this material.
Through participant observation in two refugee camps in Greece, it became apparent that explicit traditional religious practices were not particularly prominent inside the respective camps. However, borderland religion thesis suggests that religious practices and expressions are influenced by factors of migration and reformed on this basis. Using post-colonial and spatial theory, I have explored how prevalent practices that I observed in these camps, such as humanity among the camps’ inhabitants, still can be interpreted as a form of religious practice using the specific framework of borderland religion. This means practices related to religion and spirituality that appear in the intersection between migration and religion and come to be expressed the way they do because of migration.
Exploring definitions of sacredness in the specific context shed light on humanity as a practice with high significance and an almost sacred position in displacement. Using post-colonial theory, this humanity can also be interpreted as a form of resistance towards the harsh conditions of displacement. When surrounded by chaos, humanity can be interpreted as practices and expressions resisting these surroundings by acting and thinking in ways that
break with them. Looking at this resistance from a perspective of spatial analysis, we can assume that the conditions of the refugee camp as a space contributes to the shaping of these practices, especially so on the level of the lived, meaning the encounters and social dynamics that take place inside the camps. Humanity can also be interpreted as a sign of agency, meaning it may function as a means of expressing identity, will and values unrestrained by otherwise restraining structural circumstances. Considering how practices and expressions of humanity occupied larger parts of the camp and were explicitly mentioned by its inhabitants as an important religious practice in the specific context, humanity appears as a borderland religion practice taking place specifically on the border between Europe and the East in the two refugee camps I visited in Greece.
Finishing remarks
As Machado, Turner and Wyller have discussed, borders are one of the most contested global issues of our time181, and the two categories “religion” and “refugees” have become
increasingly prominent categories in the global public discourse182. Yet, there is a void of research to inform about the reality of these entangled phenomena, which constitute a reality for increasing amounts of people worldwide. Through this exploration of the life worlds of only a few people living in displacement specifically in Europe, I had the opportunity to attain a glimpse in how the two categories co-exist. This has shed light on how life in displacement can be lived and experienced. These explorations have shown how certain practices can be used as means of resistance and expression in marginal and restraining conditions. Even more so, it has highlighted diversity and nuances in how religion is perceived and practiced among people that are frequently mentioned but seldom heard, especially in the context of religion.
As the situation for these refugees is unlikely to change in the near future, research to explore aspects of life in displacement becomes increasingly significant because as the amount of people increase, it can inform us how life is lived and experienced in this world. Not only among those who already have the means to express their experiences, but more importantly those who do not. New and alternative knowledge must be offered, implying the need for research focusing on shared and lived experience. This means that it is not enough to point out that the subaltern cannot speak and problematize it. As have been pointed to in this thesis, it is not that these groups do not speak. It is more that we do not hear. By sharing and
experiencing life worlds, we can however become familiar with each other and become able
181 Machado, Daisy, Turner, Bryan S. & Wyller, Trygve, 2018, p. 1
182 Mavelli, Luca and Wilson, Erin K., 2017, p. 1
to speak and listen in new ways. As Rønsdal has pointed out; sharing lived spaces leads to sharing vulnerability, something that becomes crucial in an understanding of this situation.
With millions of people living in displacement worldwide, making displacement an increasingly normalized part of our global society, the importance of our involvement increases. Such a big number of people makes broad research from several perspectives important particularly to avoid these millions of people being discussed as one mass.
Although this contribution might be small in terms of geography and narrow in topic, it suggests that explorations of the small spaces should not be overlooked in portraying how life in displacement is much more than just that.