Introduction

Drawing on the relevant literatures in the field of refugee studies and hybrid governance, this introductory chapter develops a conceptual framework to help describe and explain the pervasive uncertainty that refugees in Lebanon face. In particular, the chapter seeks to theorize the strategic dimensions of such uncertainty. It puts forward the heuristic notion of institutional ambiguity, which construes uncertainty as the prevalence of informality, liminality, and exceptionalism in the governance of refugees’ status, shelter, and representation. In addition, it suggests the analytical idea of a politics of uncertainty that sees the reproduction and extension of institutional ambiguity as the result of strategic policy inaction and ambiguous governance. The twin notions of institutional ambiguity and a politics of uncertainty, the chapter argues, enable us to see the systemic uncertainty that refugees face as not merely a contingency of forced displacement or the lack of capacities and resources and the weak institutions of the host country’s government. Instead, they shed light on the more strategic aspects of leveraging institutional ambiguity in controlling, exploiting, and expelling refugees.