ABSTRACT
The introduction challenges the perception of East-Central Europe as a space that only produces refugees rather than also contributing to solutions to their situation. It traces the disappearance of the region in works devoted to refugee protection and links this to the construction of the self-image of the “Western” liberal refugee regime. Summarizing the chapters, the introduction sketches the various ways in which EastCentral Europe also provided protection, from the First World War to the post-communist transformation, from the Habsburg Empire through nation-states to state-socialist countries. In doing so, it hopes to inspire research about the plurality of refugee regimes globally.
