What If Refugees Mattered? The Challenge to International Law

Authors

• Catherine Dauvergne, Allard School of Law at the University of British ColumbiaFollow

Faculty Author Type

Current Faculty [Catherine Dauvergne]

Document Type

Conference Paper

Publication Date

6-18-2026

Subjects

refugees, international law

Abstract

The starting point of this work is that the figure of the refugee is under-theorized in international law, to the point of being almost entirely absent from dominant accounts of international law. This absence is all the more striking because international law is, if anything, over-theorized. Or, in Martti Koskenniemi’s (vastly more polite) words, “more than other fields, international law’s centre of gravity has been with theoretical abstraction and doctrinal construction.” So why is the figure of the refugee absent? And why does it matter? These are the key questions I am exploring in this work.

Citation Details

Catherine Dauvergne, "What If Refugees Mattered? The Challenge to International Law" (18 June 2026) Keynote Talk, Amsterdam Centre for Migration and Refugee Law.