The Origin of the Camp

This chapter explores the genealogy of the camp, dating back to the Transatlantic Slave Trade era. The camp as a technology of containment of human beings began in Africa from the moment the colonisers arrived through imperial force as it was associated with white settlers or racial ordering. As the basic requirement of colonialism, encampment was embedded exclusively within the Anglo-centric colonial system that established it. As such, I map out the historicity of the camp augmenting it with an analysis of the various types of the camp dating back to the TransAtlantic Trade era. Inspired by a critical reflection and my personal experience as a former refugee, I then explore how the camp has become a permanent institution for the concentration of millions of refugees. This is to demonstrate why the camp should not be understood as a distant historico-geographical event, but as an ever-existing condition within the present globalised political system. I argue that the current approaches to the problem such as the institutionalisation of the camp and securitisation of asylum should be decolonised.