Time in refugee studies: a conceptual literature review and prospects from a social theory lens

Abstract Within social sciences, the concept of time has gained some attention in migration studies, among other fields, especially in the last couple of decades. While a few articles and books have focused on reviewing and conceptualizing the time dimension within the broader field of migration studies, they have rarely focused specifically on the subfield of refugee studies, even though many works in this subfield, mostly of empirical nature, have touched upon the concept of time explicitly or implicitly. This paper first reflects on what unpacking the time dimension would add to the study of refugee experiences and policies. Subsequently, the paper examines how some key conceptualizations of time in social theory have been addressed in and are relevant for some selected works within refugee studies. It specifically focuses on reviewing how different dimensions of time – timing; sequence (or order); frequency (or rhythm), including (a)synchronization; speed (or tempo); duration; and past, present and future – manifest at the micro, meso and macro levels of the social world pertaining to forced displacement. Recognizing the intertwined nature of these levels, the paper ends with some brief initial reflections on why and how to advocate for a balanced approach between mobility and immobility, agency and structure, informality and formality, and haphazardness and purposiveness, when studying or trying to understand temporalities in refugee lives and policies.