I retired from the University of Manchester in 2021 after a career of 45 years teaching refugee history, the history of humanitarianism, cultural history of modern war, Russian social and economic history and other topics. Although I am no longer teaching or supervising graduate students, I continue to research mainly in the field of modern refugee history and to collaborate with other scholars. I also chair the modern history section of the British Academy to which I was elected in 2019.
Refugee history at present lacks a conceptual framework, notwithstanding the proliferation of rec... more Refugee history at present lacks a conceptual framework, notwithstanding the proliferation of recent contributions that contribute to enlarging the field. Our article seeks to advance refugee history by drawing upon extensive research into historical case studies and proposing the framework of refugeedom. Refugeedom takes proper account of the states and other actors that defined the 'refugee' as a category and sought to manage refugees as figures of concern, but it also insists upon the need to consider refugees as an active and assertive historical presence in situations of crisis and constraint. It offers a promising approach for analysing episodes and sites of mass population displacement from the perspectives of governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. Crucially, refugeedom incorporates the experiences of refugees and how they narrated displacement. Finally, the article outlines a direction for global history by drawing attention to past episodes of displacement in ways that capture not only its global scale, but also the multiple relationships and practices of refugeedom.
This article draws upon some of the thousands of confidential case files for resettlement that ar... more This article draws upon some of the thousands of confidential case files for resettlement that are held in the Records and Archives Division in Geneva of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). It forms part of an ongoing research project, "Reckoning with refugeedom", funded by the UK Arts & Humanities Research Council, 2018-21. The article reflects on aspects of the encounter between refugees and UNHCR as well as the issues raised by archiving refugee history.
Non-state organisations were important actors in the international refugee regime after World War... more Non-state organisations were important actors in the international refugee regime after World War 2. This article traces connections between refugee crises and geo-politics by focusing on the interaction of three NGOs with the new Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the 1950s. One non-state actor, the World Council of Churches (WCC), highlighted the suffering of German expellees as illustrating the limitations of the refugee regime. The second non-state organisation, Jami’at al’ Islam (JAI), asserted its right to represent all Muslim refugees in Europe. Along with its anti-communist stance it adopted an anti-colonial rhetoric and denounced the limitations of UNHCR’s mandate, but it was later exposed as a front for the CIA. The third organisation, Comité Inter-Mouvements Auprès des Evacués (CIMADE), formed in 1939 to help French Jews escape deportation during the Vichy era, subsequently aided Algerians who suffered persecution by the French authorities. Like WCC, this began a long ‘career’ in humanitarianism. In its dealings with these NGOs, UNHCR trod cautiously, because it was constrained by its mandate and the governments that contributed to its budget. Each example demonstrates the challenges of ‘non-political’ efforts to offer humanitarian assistance to refugees and the limits to the autonomy of non-state organisations.
This article outlines the current contours of refugee history and charts a way forward. It begins... more This article outlines the current contours of refugee history and charts a way forward. It begins by asking what future historians will write about forced migration in and around the Mediterranean during 2015-16, and how such a history could entail ‘thinking through oceans’, not just the nation-state. Noting the absence of refugees from mainstream historiography, the article traces a history of population displacement in the modern world that is attentive to connections between the circumstances, actions and trajectories of refugees through time and space. This work takes account of histories of categorisation (‘making up people’) and changes over time to the refugee regime and to humanitarian aid. This broad matrix of relations and practices can be conceptualised as ‘refugeedom’. Given the focus of this special issue, protection is discussed in relation to institutional arrangements, but also to the meanings and forms of refugees’ self-protection in refugee camps. Finally, the article draws attention to refugees’ own engagement with history.
Paper presented to ‘Agents of Internationalism’: first international workshop, Birkbeck College, ... more Paper presented to ‘Agents of Internationalism’: first international workshop, Birkbeck College, University of London, 19-20 June 2014
Attempts by the new United Nations and member states to address post-1945 population displacement... more Attempts by the new United Nations and member states to address post-1945 population displacement culminated in the 1951 Refugee Convention that made explicit reference to events in Europe, overlooking major crises in other parts of the world whose contours and outcomes are discussed. The article discusses debates within the UN and among international lawyers and non-governmental organisations about the right of refugees to seek protection from persecution, and how broader notions of rights foundered on the rock of state sovereignty. These historical examples indicate that choices were made and actions were circumscribed in relation to population displacement.
This is the written version of a paper given to the Slavic Research Centre, Hokkaido University o... more This is the written version of a paper given to the Slavic Research Centre, Hokkaido University on 12 January 2011. For a much fuller elaboration of the argument and supporting evidence, see Peter Gatrell Free World? The Campaign to Save the World’s Refugees, 1956-1963 (Cambridge University Press, 2011).
Talk given to a conference at the University of Newcastle, July 2013, on Gender, refugees and dis... more Talk given to a conference at the University of Newcastle, July 2013, on Gender, refugees and displacement, 1900-1950’
Notes: Please do not cite without permission. I have omitted the images that formed part of my presentation
This is a Russian translation of an article that first appeared in German in 2014. I haven't chec... more This is a Russian translation of an article that first appeared in German in 2014. I haven't checked it for accuracy.
This is the fuller version of a talk I gave to a conference at the Royal Military College, Kingst... more This is the fuller version of a talk I gave to a conference at the Royal Military College, Kingston, Ontario, in March 2011. I don’t currently have any plans to publish it.
This article explores how Baltic migration, and particularly the experience of forced migration, ... more This article explores how Baltic migration, and particularly the experience of forced migration, relates to broader comparative and methodological issues and debates in the emerging field of refugee history. Attention is given to the impact of two world wars and their aftermath in the Baltic, with particular emphasis on the ways in which refugees from the Baltic and elsewhere have related their experiences. The article concludes by calling attention to the multiple readings of population displacement that historians need to entertain.
Refugee history at present lacks a conceptual framework, notwithstanding the proliferation of rec... more Refugee history at present lacks a conceptual framework, notwithstanding the proliferation of recent contributions that contribute to enlarging the field. Our article seeks to advance refugee history by drawing upon extensive research into historical case studies and proposing the framework of refugeedom. Refugeedom takes proper account of the states and other actors that defined the 'refugee' as a category and sought to manage refugees as figures of concern, but it also insists upon the need to consider refugees as an active and assertive historical presence in situations of crisis and constraint. It offers a promising approach for analysing episodes and sites of mass population displacement from the perspectives of governments, intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations. Crucially, refugeedom incorporates the experiences of refugees and how they narrated displacement. Finally, the article outlines a direction for global history by drawing attention to past episodes of displacement in ways that capture not only its global scale, but also the multiple relationships and practices of refugeedom.
This article draws upon some of the thousands of confidential case files for resettlement that ar... more This article draws upon some of the thousands of confidential case files for resettlement that are held in the Records and Archives Division in Geneva of the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). It forms part of an ongoing research project, "Reckoning with refugeedom", funded by the UK Arts & Humanities Research Council, 2018-21. The article reflects on aspects of the encounter between refugees and UNHCR as well as the issues raised by archiving refugee history.
Non-state organisations were important actors in the international refugee regime after World War... more Non-state organisations were important actors in the international refugee regime after World War 2. This article traces connections between refugee crises and geo-politics by focusing on the interaction of three NGOs with the new Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in the 1950s. One non-state actor, the World Council of Churches (WCC), highlighted the suffering of German expellees as illustrating the limitations of the refugee regime. The second non-state organisation, Jami’at al’ Islam (JAI), asserted its right to represent all Muslim refugees in Europe. Along with its anti-communist stance it adopted an anti-colonial rhetoric and denounced the limitations of UNHCR’s mandate, but it was later exposed as a front for the CIA. The third organisation, Comité Inter-Mouvements Auprès des Evacués (CIMADE), formed in 1939 to help French Jews escape deportation during the Vichy era, subsequently aided Algerians who suffered persecution by the French authorities. Like WCC, this began a long ‘career’ in humanitarianism. In its dealings with these NGOs, UNHCR trod cautiously, because it was constrained by its mandate and the governments that contributed to its budget. Each example demonstrates the challenges of ‘non-political’ efforts to offer humanitarian assistance to refugees and the limits to the autonomy of non-state organisations.
This article outlines the current contours of refugee history and charts a way forward. It begins... more This article outlines the current contours of refugee history and charts a way forward. It begins by asking what future historians will write about forced migration in and around the Mediterranean during 2015-16, and how such a history could entail ‘thinking through oceans’, not just the nation-state. Noting the absence of refugees from mainstream historiography, the article traces a history of population displacement in the modern world that is attentive to connections between the circumstances, actions and trajectories of refugees through time and space. This work takes account of histories of categorisation (‘making up people’) and changes over time to the refugee regime and to humanitarian aid. This broad matrix of relations and practices can be conceptualised as ‘refugeedom’. Given the focus of this special issue, protection is discussed in relation to institutional arrangements, but also to the meanings and forms of refugees’ self-protection in refugee camps. Finally, the article draws attention to refugees’ own engagement with history.
Paper presented to ‘Agents of Internationalism’: first international workshop, Birkbeck College, ... more Paper presented to ‘Agents of Internationalism’: first international workshop, Birkbeck College, University of London, 19-20 June 2014
Attempts by the new United Nations and member states to address post-1945 population displacement... more Attempts by the new United Nations and member states to address post-1945 population displacement culminated in the 1951 Refugee Convention that made explicit reference to events in Europe, overlooking major crises in other parts of the world whose contours and outcomes are discussed. The article discusses debates within the UN and among international lawyers and non-governmental organisations about the right of refugees to seek protection from persecution, and how broader notions of rights foundered on the rock of state sovereignty. These historical examples indicate that choices were made and actions were circumscribed in relation to population displacement.
This is the written version of a paper given to the Slavic Research Centre, Hokkaido University o... more This is the written version of a paper given to the Slavic Research Centre, Hokkaido University on 12 January 2011. For a much fuller elaboration of the argument and supporting evidence, see Peter Gatrell Free World? The Campaign to Save the World’s Refugees, 1956-1963 (Cambridge University Press, 2011).
Talk given to a conference at the University of Newcastle, July 2013, on Gender, refugees and dis... more Talk given to a conference at the University of Newcastle, July 2013, on Gender, refugees and displacement, 1900-1950’
Notes: Please do not cite without permission. I have omitted the images that formed part of my presentation
This is a Russian translation of an article that first appeared in German in 2014. I haven't chec... more This is a Russian translation of an article that first appeared in German in 2014. I haven't checked it for accuracy.
This is the fuller version of a talk I gave to a conference at the Royal Military College, Kingst... more This is the fuller version of a talk I gave to a conference at the Royal Military College, Kingston, Ontario, in March 2011. I don’t currently have any plans to publish it.
This article explores how Baltic migration, and particularly the experience of forced migration, ... more This article explores how Baltic migration, and particularly the experience of forced migration, relates to broader comparative and methodological issues and debates in the emerging field of refugee history. Attention is given to the impact of two world wars and their aftermath in the Baltic, with particular emphasis on the ways in which refugees from the Baltic and elsewhere have related their experiences. The article concludes by calling attention to the multiple readings of population displacement that historians need to entertain.
From the publisher's website:
Migrants have stood at the heart of modern Europe's experience, wh... more From the publisher's website:
Migrants have stood at the heart of modern Europe's experience, whether trying to escape danger, to find a better life or as a result of deliberate policy, whether moving from the countryside to the city, or between countries, or from outside the continent altogether.
Peter Gatrell's powerful new book is the first to bring these stories together into one place. He creates a compelling narrative bracketed by two nightmarish periods: the great convulsions following the fall of the Third Reich and the mass attempts in the 2010s by migrants to cross the Mediterranean into Europe.
The Unsettling of Europe is a new history of the continent, charting the ever-changing arguments about the desirability or otherwise of migrants and their central role in Europe's post-1945 prosperity. Gatrell is as fascinating on the giant movements of millions (such as the epic waves of German migration) to that of much smaller groups, such as the Karelians, Armenians, Moluccans or Ugandan Asians. Above all he has written a book that makes the reader deeply aware of the many extraordinary journeys taken by countless individuals in pursuit of work, safety and dignity, all the time.
This is a landmark book on a subject that, decade by decade, will always haunt Europe.
The Making of the Modern Refugee is a comprehensive history of global population displacement in ... more The Making of the Modern Refugee is a comprehensive history of global population displacement in the twentieth century. It takes a new approach to the subject, exploring its causes, consequences, and meanings. History provides important clues to understanding how the idea of refugees as a 'problem' embedded itself in the minds of policy-makers and the public, and poses a series of fundamental questions about the nature of enforced migration and how it has shaped society throughout the twentieth century across a broad geographical area - from Europe and the Middle East to South Asia, South-East Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. Wars, revolutions, and state formation are invoked as the main causal explanations of displacement, and are considered alongside the emergence of a twentieth-century refugee regime linking governmental practices, professional expertise, and humanitarian relief efforts.
Free World? is a major contribution to the transnational history of humanitarianism in the postwa... more Free World? is a major contribution to the transnational history of humanitarianism in the postwar world. Peter Gatrell shows how and why the UN, NGOs, governments and individuals embarked on a unique campaign, World Refugee Year (1959–1960), in response to global refugee crises, particularly in Europe, the Middle East and the Far East. Adopted by nearly one hundred countries, the campaign galvanised public opinion and raised money by enlisting celebrities, using the mass media, and recreating 'refugee camps' in the affluent West. Free World? assesses the causes and consequences of the refugee crises, locates the campaign in the broader geopolitical context of the Cold War and decolonisation and shows how it helped to inspire subsequent campaigns such as Amnesty International and Freedom from Hunger. Ultimately the book asks how those who are in a more privileged position might better reflect on their responsibilities towards refugees in the modern world.
Drawing on previously unused archival material in Russia, Latvia, and Armenia and on insights fro... more Drawing on previously unused archival material in Russia, Latvia, and Armenia and on insights from social and critical theory, Peter Gatrell considers the origins of displacement and its political implications and provides a close analysis of humanitarian initiatives and the relationships between refugees and the communities in which they settled.
On Tuesday, January 24, 2017, Dr. Theodora Dragostinova sat down with Dr. Peter Gatrell, Professo... more On Tuesday, January 24, 2017, Dr. Theodora Dragostinova sat down with Dr. Peter Gatrell, Professor of History at Manchester University, to have a chat about migration, immigration, and repatriation in Europe. In the discussion, Dr. Gatrell discusses the value that arts and humanities can have in discussing and understanding migration, as well as what happens when citizens relocate because of war or economic reasons and then return to their home country.
Q&A on refugees and refugee history, including discussion of collaborative project on WW1 (in Rus... more Q&A on refugees and refugee history, including discussion of collaborative project on WW1 (in Russian)
Published in European Review of History, 20, no. 5 (2013)
A Question of Genocide: Armenians and T... more Published in European Review of History, 20, no. 5 (2013) A Question of Genocide: Armenians and Turks at the End of the Ottoman Empire, edited by Ronald Grigor Suny, Fatma Müge Göçek and Norman M. Naimark, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011, xxii + 434 pp., £22.50, ISBN 978 0 19 539374 3 (hbk.). The Young Turks' Crime against Humanity: the Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire, by Taner Akçam, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2012, xxxix + 483, £27.95, ISBN 978 0691153339 (hbk.). The Making of Modern Turkey: Nation and State in Eastern Anatolia, 1913-50, by Uğur Ümit Üngör, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011, xxi + 303 pp., £24.99, ISBN 978 0 19 965522-9 (pbk).
This overview of migration and migration policy in Europe since 1945 draws upon my book, The Unse... more This overview of migration and migration policy in Europe since 1945 draws upon my book, The Unsettling of Europe (Penguin Books & Basic Books, 2019 and 2021 Penguin paperback) to highlight key developments. A slightly revised German language version has now been published.
This is the Powerpoint presentation I used as the basis for a keynote at the ASEN conference on 2... more This is the Powerpoint presentation I used as the basis for a keynote at the ASEN conference on 20 April 2017
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Papers by Peter Gatrell
Keywords: refugee history; refugeedom; Mediterranean; refugee regime; humanitarianism; protection; refugee camps
Notes: Please do not cite without permission. I have omitted the images that formed part of my presentation
Keywords: refugee history; refugeedom; Mediterranean; refugee regime; humanitarianism; protection; refugee camps
Notes: Please do not cite without permission. I have omitted the images that formed part of my presentation
Migrants have stood at the heart of modern Europe's experience, whether trying to escape danger, to find a better life or as a result of deliberate policy, whether moving from the countryside to the city, or between countries, or from outside the continent altogether.
Peter Gatrell's powerful new book is the first to bring these stories together into one place. He creates a compelling narrative bracketed by two nightmarish periods: the great convulsions following the fall of the Third Reich and the mass attempts in the 2010s by migrants to cross the Mediterranean into Europe.
The Unsettling of Europe is a new history of the continent, charting the ever-changing arguments about the desirability or otherwise of migrants and their central role in Europe's post-1945 prosperity. Gatrell is as fascinating on the giant movements of millions (such as the epic waves of German migration) to that of much smaller groups, such as the Karelians, Armenians, Moluccans or Ugandan Asians. Above all he has written a book that makes the reader deeply aware of the many extraordinary journeys taken by countless individuals in pursuit of work, safety and dignity, all the time.
This is a landmark book on a subject that, decade by decade, will always haunt Europe.
A Question of Genocide: Armenians and Turks at the End of the Ottoman Empire, edited by Ronald Grigor Suny, Fatma Müge Göçek and Norman M. Naimark, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011, xxii + 434 pp., £22.50, ISBN 978 0 19 539374 3 (hbk.). The Young Turks' Crime against Humanity: the Armenian Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing in the Ottoman Empire, by Taner Akçam, Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2012, xxxix + 483, £27.95, ISBN 978 0691153339 (hbk.). The Making of Modern Turkey: Nation and State in Eastern Anatolia, 1913-50, by Uğur Ümit Üngör, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2011, xxi + 303 pp., £24.99, ISBN 978 0 19 965522-9 (pbk).