This study examines social interactions in long-term refugee camps on the Thai-Burmese border. Based on seventeen months of participant observation, the author’s analysis illuminates the social order in refugee camps beyond state and humanitarian governance.

Based on extensive ethnographic field research, Public Camp Orders and the Power of Microstructures in the Thai-Burmese Borderland makes a unique contribution to empirical and theoretical discourses on camp institutions, (forced) migration, and border regimes. Focusing on public camp life, everyday interactions, and the concept of microstructures, this ethnography explores local practices of mobility, governance, and economy in the context of plural and temporary environments.

Chapter 1: Camp Theory and Research

Chapter 2: Conflict – Border – Camp

Chapter 3: Public Camp Orders, Temporality and Discipline

Chapter 4: Governance, Public Meetings, and Camp Secrets

Chapter 5: Public Bureaucracy, Examination and Panopticon

Chapter 6: Normality, Anomy and Economy

Chapter 7: Mobility, Architecture and Border Regimes

Chapter 8: The Power of Microstructures in Camp System