Governing the Displacement: A Critical Policy Study of UNHCR's Education Strategies

• In Event: Policy Without Borders: Rethinking Higher Education Reform Across Nations and Narratives

Abstract

This paper offers a postcolonial critique of the education policies of United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Although these policies are framed as progressive humanitarian efforts, this study argues that the UNHCR's strategic vision uses education to promote Western-centric values, enforce neoliberal agenda, and perpetuate colonial power dynamics. Utilizing Fairclough’s Critical Discourse Analysis, the paper examines significant UNHCR education strategies published between 2010 and 2020. The analysis demonstrates how policy discourse portrays refugees as passive, depoliticized individuals who need to be managed and positions education as a means for assimilation and control. This work aims to "unforget" the colonial practices embedded in global refugee governance and challenges the field to envision educational futures that free from these established power structures.

Author

• Adnan Turan, Arizona State University