Where is internal displacement within migration research?

Thursday, 18 June 2026, 3.45pm to 5pm

Given the prevalence of internal displacement worldwide, its absence from research agendas, funding calls, and academic institutions is notable and problematic. The recently launched Oxford University Press Handbook of Internal Displacement seeks to change that. This event brings together three of the Handbook’s contributors with an interdisciplinary group of migration scholars. Together, we will reflect on the relevance of studying internal displacement for informing a wide array of social, political, and economic phenomena, both within and beyond the field of migration/mobility studies. We will ask how research on internal displacement relates to work on refugees, and explore a few unique aspects of internal displacement, including processes of marginalisation and key challenges faced in conducting research in IDP contexts. This hybrid event welcomes discussion and Q&A with researchers from across Oxford University, with a broader focus on issues of internal displacement, (forced) migration, and mobility studies.

Attendance is free, and all are welcome.

Panellists
- Megan Bradley, Professor, Political Science and Institute for the Study of International Development, McGill University (Co-editor of the Handbook and author of: Internal Displacement, Ethnicity and Marginalization with Rabia Salihi)
- Roger Zetter, Emeritus Professor of Refugee Studies, Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford (author of: Internal Displacement, Refugees, and Forced Migration Studies)
- Melissa Weihmayer, Researcher, Centre on Migration, Policy and Society, University of Oxford (Handbook coordinator and author of: Research Methodologies and Challenges in Internal Displacement Contexts with Nassim Majidi)
- Discussant: Loren Landau, Professor of Migration and Development, Oxford Department of International Development
- Chair/moderator: Carlos Vargas-Silva, Professor in Migration Studies, Centre on Migration, Policy and Society, University of Oxford and Fellow of Kellogg College

Speaker(s): Melissa Weihmayer (COMPAS), Loren Landau (ODID), Carlos Vargas-Silva (COMPAS)

Department: School of Anthropology & Museum Ethnography (Department)

Organiser: Melissa Weihmayer

Host: Centre on Migration, Policy & Society (COMPAS)

Register here: https://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/event/where-is-internal-displacement-within-migration-research

More info: