Localizing refugeehood: norms and the US resettlement of Afghan allies

Abstract

Abstract A central challenge for the study of norms in International Relations entails understanding how meaning is enacted through use and local context. Amid trends towards governments reducing pathways of humanitarian migration, local constructions of meaning around refugeehood and the obligations owed to people fleeing persecution can influence global trajectories of containment and responsibility-sharing. As a means of advancing our understanding of norm localization and contestation, this article provides an account of how obligations around refugee protection are configured and contested among national and subnational authorities. Using a case study of discourses (re)produced among United States' federal, state and municipal leaders, it explores the multiple, complex layers of meaning which emerged around duties of care owed to foreign civilian ‘allies’ in the context of the 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan. Beyond illustrating dynamics of localization and contestation, the article shows how domestic resistance to norm implementation can operate as a surrogate for wider visions of resisting liberal international principles. The case study more broadly contributes to understanding the conflicting logics associated with duties of care in the aftermath of military interventions.