Negotiating refugee status: the co-production of labelling and identity among Mbororo pastoralists in Cameroon

[en] This article examines the dynamics of refugee labelling and identity co-production among Mbororo populations in Eastern Cameroon. Drawing on two years of ethnographic fieldwork and the conceptual framework of refugee labelling, it highlights how people engage with, contest, and reframe the refugee label, transforming it into a political and economic resource. By exploring practices of resistance, appropriation, and strategic negotiation, the article shows how the refugee status is not only imposed but also co-produced by those it seeks to define. In doing so, it emphasises the bottom-up politicisation of asylum governance, illustrating how forced migrants and host populations actively participate in reshaping their status and the systems that manage their displacement. This contribution offers a nuanced understanding of refugee labelling, highlighting the importance of lived experiences in shaping forced migration policies.

Disciplines :

Anthropology

Author, co-author :

Lefort - Rieu, Claire ; Université de Liège - ULiège > Institut de recherche en Sciences Sociales (IRSS) > IRSS: Laboratoire d'Anthropologie Sociale et Culturelle

Language :

English

Title :

Negotiating refugee status: the co-production of labelling and identity among Mbororo pastoralists in Cameroon

Publication date :

2025

Journal title :

Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies

ISSN :

1369-183X

eISSN :

1469-9451

Publisher :

Routledge

Pages :

1-18

Peer reviewed :

Peer Reviewed verified by ORBi

Additional URL :

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/1369183X.2025.2486491

Funders :

ENS Paris - École Normale Supérieure

Funding text :

See e.g. the Livestock Development Programme (PRODEL) funded by the World Bank: https://www.prodel.cm/

Available on ORBi :

since 14 October 2025

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