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Who counts as a refugee?

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Who counts as a refugee?
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The words 'refugee' and 'asylum seeker' have a wide variety of connotations in Britain, many of them negative. This free course, Who counts as a refugee?, explores how changing social policy and terminology help to shape, and are shaped by, the experiences of people seeking asylum in the UK.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

After studying this course, you should be able to:

  • understand changing constructions of ‘refugees’ and ‘asylum seekers’ over the last century
  • Identify ways in which the study of refugees and asylum seekers raises profound questions about the basis and legitimacy of claims for ‘citizenship’
  • understand how the personal lives of refugees and asylum seekers have been shaped by social policy that constructs them as ‘other’
  • understand how refugees and asylum seekers have negotiated and resisted these effects and themselves shaped social policy
  • understand how ‘knowledge’ about refugees and asylum seekers is produced and reproduced through research.

First Published: 10/08/2012

Updated: 12/06/2019

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