Critical Camp Studies: A State of the Art

ABSTRACT Scholarship on camps is extensive yet highly fragmented, structured around disciplinary, geographical, and theoretical silos that rarely enter into sustained dialogue. While numerous studies and literature reviews have examined camps through specific lenses (humanitarian governance, sovereignty, biopolitics, architecture) no comprehensive synthesis has yet mapped the full terrain of camp‐related research across forms, periods, and locations. This article addresses that gap by sketching a broad, cross‐disciplinary overview of Camp Studies, identifying key clusters and points of convergence within the literature. Beyond synthesis, the article advances a second, more programmatic intervention: it proposes Critical Camp Studies as a distinct field of inquiry. Drawing inspiration from the emergence of Carceral Geography and Critical Border Studies, the article argues that the proliferation and normalisation of encampment as policy (particularly in relation to migration) demands a sustained, systematic, and explicitly critical framework. Rather than analysing camps solely as sites of management or humanitarian ‘best practice’ Critical Camp Studies foregrounds urgent social questions of injustice, inequality, and power in relation to camps and encampment.