Policy networks in refugee education

This paper presents a social network analysis of partnerships in refugee education and shows how relationships between organisations change in response to multiple crises, including political and economic crises, disaster, and COVID-19. We draw insights from an original database of 440 state and nonstate entities engaged in Syria refugee education in Lebanon (2018-2021). We find that partnerships in refugee education comprise a complex web of global, national, and local actors. The policy network arising from these partnerships reflects power inequities wherein international organisations hold most influence. Moreover, crises impact the network, which expands to include new private actors. While the COVID-19 pandemic is thought to accelerate localisation, our analysis suggests the durability of global power hierarchies in refugee education response.