Believing in Light after Darkness: Displacement and Refugee Resettlement

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Univ of California Press, Mar 10, 2026 - Social Science - 315 pages
War, persecution, and climate change too often force people from their homes and across borders. Most remain in difficult conditions in neighboring countries. The less than one percent of refugees offered resettlement to a different country gain an alternative path forward, with access to specialized supports and services that are traditionally understood as a solution to displacement and a program of integration. Examining the complexities of refugees' lived experiences, Molly Fee's deeply humanistic ethnography reframes resettlement as a period of disruption and disorientation, when newly arrived refugees must navigate the rules and expectations of a new country. For those who have already rebuilt their lives numerous times, resettlement becomes yet another uprooting. Believing in Light after Darkness reveals how humanitarian solutions, though well intentioned, do not immediately resolve the conditions of displacement.
 

Contents

Departure
40
Arrival
75
Family
115
Work
155
Trust
197
Conclusion
236
Methodological Appendix
253
Bibliography
271
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About the author (2026)

Molly Fee is Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology and Interdisciplinary Social Sciences at the University of South Florida.

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