
Contents
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The violence of labelling The violence of labelling
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Arendt and the banality of evil Arendt and the banality of evil
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Banality and attitudinal thoughtlessness Banality and attitudinal thoughtlessness
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War over numbers: counting the displaced War over numbers: counting the displaced
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Unit for Integrated Support and Reparation for Victims (UARIV) Unit for Integrated Support and Reparation for Victims (UARIV)
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Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES) Consultancy for Human Rights and Displacement (CODHES)
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Why (better) numbers matter: contesting the colour-blind discourse of displacement Why (better) numbers matter: contesting the colour-blind discourse of displacement
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Breaking banality Breaking banality
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Conclusions Conclusions
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Notes Notes
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References References
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3 The banality of displacement: re-reading Hannah Arendt to instil critical thought in the Colombian refugee crisis1
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Published:June 2020
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Abstract
This chapter focuses on Colombia, which has the highest numbers of internal displaced people worldwide (over 6 million), to generate conversations about how the internally displaced are identified, counted and categorised. Drawing on Hannah Arendt’s ideas regarding the ‘banality of evil’, the author develops the concept of ‘the banality of displacement’ to examine the increasingly bureaucratic and thoughtless nature of an institutionalised discourse in Colombia that has led to a creeping normalisation of forced displacement. This, he argues, has come at the expense of a more complex characterisation of the internally displaced population. Examining the case of the Afro-Colombian population, he shows how a ‘colour-blind’ approach to displacement has meant that despite this group’s recognition as an ethnic minority in the new 1991 constitution, for years no data was collected regarding the ethnic composition of the displaced population. This, despite longstanding arguments that displacement has affected black groups disproportionately to the mestizo population. By exposing the thoughtlessness in government and NGO circles alike, the ‘banality of displacement’ approach seeks to instil critical thought countering the normalisation of displacement in Colombia and elsewhere and suggests that a re-reading of Arendt may be important to the wider global refugee crisis debate.
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