New Book by GMU’s Lisa Gilman Reveals the Humanity, Creativity and Agency of Refugees Around the World

Arts Initiatives by Refugees for Refugees moves beyond statistics and stereotypes to tell deeply personal stories of art, community and belonging

FAIRFAX, VA, UNITED STATES, September 15, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — What happens when we stop seeing people who are forcibly displaced simply as victims and begin seeing them as artists, entrepreneurs, neighbors, parents, creators and people actively shaping their own futures?

A new book by Dr. Lisa Gilman, Executive Director of George Mason University’s Institute for Immigration Research (IIR), seeks to change how readers understand the lives of refugees by revealing the creativity, agency and humanity too often missing from public conversations about forced migration.
Published by Berghahn Books, Arts Initiatives by Refugees for Refugees: Forced Displacement, Creativity, and Agency draws on Gilman’s multi-site research with residents of the Dzaleka refugee camp in Malawi, Syrians in Türkiye, and Uyghurs in France. Through a series of accessible, narrative-driven chapters, Gilman introduces readers to individuals whose experiences illuminate not only the trauma of displacement, but also creativity, entrepreneurship, friendship, celebration, resilience and community.

“Refugees are so often talked about as a problem to be solved, a population to be managed, or victims who need to be saved,” said Gilman. “I wanted readers to encounter people as people…to see their creativity, their agency, their relationships, and the ways they continue to build meaningful lives under extraordinarily difficult circumstances.”

Gilman wrote the book intentionally for audiences beyond academia. Its short, story-centered chapters introduce complex questions surrounding migration, displacement, identity, policy and belonging through the lives of individual people. The approach closely reflects the mission of the Institute for Immigration Research: combining rigorous scholarship with storytelling, arts and public engagement to deepen understanding of migration and the people experiencing it.

“Policy decisions affect actual human beings,” Gilman said. “If policymakers, and all of us, better understand the people whose lives are affected by those decisions, we have the opportunity to make better decisions and to relate differently to the people in our own communities.”

The book challenges representations of refugees defined primarily through vulnerability and suffering. Instead, its stories examine the ways displaced people create art and cultural initiatives for themselves and their communities. Readers encounter musicians, dancers, visual artists, craftspeople, cultural organizations, festivals and community initiatives across three distinct displacement contexts. These stories demonstrate how arts and cultural expression can create connection, preserve identity, generate opportunity and provide ways for people to exercise agency even amid profound uncertainty.
The book has already drawn praise from scholars in migration, folklore and performance studies.

Amy Shuman of The Ohio State University called it “an excellent and important book” that contributes to understanding migration, refugees, resettlement and creativity, while Fordham University’s, Fadi Skeiker, described the work as “a rare contribution connecting scholarship, creative nonfiction and advocacy.”

Although the hardcover edition is intended in part for academic and institutional libraries, Gilman’s priority is getting these stories into the hands of as many readers as possible. For that reason, the complete book has been made available free to read online through an open-access edition, supported by the free access to scholarly content organization Knowledge Unlatched.

“If someone finishes the book and becomes curious about the refugee family down the street, the child at their kid’s school, or the people affected by a policy decision, then the book has accomplished something important,” said Gilman. Published by Berghahn Books, it’s available in hardcover, eBook and free open-access formats.

About Lisa Gilman
Lisa Gilman, Ph.D., is a Professor of Folklore and Director of the Institute for Immigration Research at George Mason University, as well as a Fulbright U.S. Scholar for the 2026–27 academic year. She is a former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of American Folklore and former Fellow with the Refugee and Forced Displacement Initiative at the Woodrow Wilson Center. Her previous books include My Music, My War: The Listening Habits of U.S. Troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, The Dance of Politics: Performance, Gender, and Democratization in Malawi, and the co-edited volumes Africa Every Day: Fun, Leisure, and Expressive Culture on the Continent and UNESCO on the Ground: Local Perspectives on Intangible Cultural Heritage.

About the Institute for Immigration Research
The Institute for Immigration Research at George Mason University advances understanding of immigration and migration through interdisciplinary research, data, arts and storytelling, education, and public engagement.

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