The Nature of Displacement

Displaced individuals traditionally have been thought of as those who have been forced from their home due to political instability or persecution.  However, the term 'displacement' in the literature has been widened to capture individuals who have left home, but aren't necessarily forced to leave their home.  This appears to be because they have moved and there is some kind of harm one experiences when they move that comes from the moving itself.   While these individuals do share the commonality that they have moved home, and thus are displaced, this paper challenges the assumption that they are necessarily harmed because they have been displaced.  In doing so, I give an account of displacement that can make sense of being harmed and displaced and being not-harmed and displaced.  While there may be some underlying experience that connects all these individuals, we would be wrong to think that this experience is inherently harmful.  There is a meaningful difference between a refugee and someone who moves for better job opportunities, and an account of displacement should be able to make sense of this.