Georgina Ramsay

Georgina Ramsay is an Associate Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Delaware's College of Arts & Sciences. She serves as an affiliate faculty member in the Department of Geography and Spatial Sciences and holds editorial and leadership positions as co-editor of Political and Legal Anthropology Review and board member of the Association for Political and Legal Anthropology.

Dr. Ramsay earned her Ph.D. from the University of Newcastle, Australia. Her research fundamentally explores displacement as a lens to examine global precarity and instability, challenging the notion that displacement is exceptional rather than a general condition of contemporary life. With extensive multi-sited ethnographic fieldwork, she has conducted research with refugees from Central Africa in Uganda and Australia, internally displaced persons in the Democratic Republic of Congo, and people experiencing homelessness in the United States.

Her scholarly work critically examines how displacement reflects and reinforces structures of inequality, with particular attention to the temporal dimensions of refuge and the control of possible futures. Dr. Ramsay's publications span prestigious journals including Humanity, Anthropological Theory, Critique of Anthropology, and Public Culture, alongside public-facing commentary in outlets like Slate, The Conversation, and New Matilda. Her influential book Impossible Refuge: The Control and Constraint of Refugee Futures (Routledge, 2018) provides a theoretical foundation for understanding refugee experiences beyond conventional politico-legal frameworks.

Dr. Ramsay's recent scholarship demonstrates a consistent focus on deexceptionalizing displacement, examining how forced migration intersects with broader global conditions of insecurity. Her work increasingly addresses the temporal dimensions of displacement, the political economy of refugee regimes, and the gendered experiences of displacement, particularly among Central African refugee women. She has also expanded her research to address the impacts of climate change, political instability, and economic precarity on global displacement patterns.

• Selected for The Conversation Yearbook 2016: 50 Standout Articles from Australia's Top Thinkers
• Co-editor of Political and Legal Anthropology Review
• Board member of the Association for Political and Legal Anthropology

Dr. Ramsay is actively engaged in public scholarship and community outreach, as evidenced by her participation in events like TEDxDelaware where she discussed refugees, citizens, and the rise of displacement. She has contributed to media discussions about refugee experiences and has been involved in campus initiatives addressing displacement, including the 'Hostile Terrain 94' art installation representing casualties at the US-Mexico border. As a migrant within the United States herself, Dr. Ramsay is committed to creating more safe, welcoming, and receptive communities for all humans regardless of legal, political, social, or economic backgrounds.