Patterns of proof - Replication files

Identity documentation’s importance to accessing essential rights and services is recognised in global development, as demonstrated by a sustainable development target which promises universal legal identity by 2030. The link between identification and inclusion is typically perceived and measured as a binary: One either has a foundational document issued by one central authority, thereby having full access to essential services, or they do not. This hardly applies to the widespread reality of fragmented documentation landscapes, where people are issued multiple identity documents by multiple authorities. Such circumstances can emerge out of forced displacement, transitions of power, or simply living under the multi-layered purview of local and central authorities. This article proposes an alternative approach to capturing proof of legal identity: not as a binary, but as group-level patterns of document ownership. Latent class analysis of survey data of Syrian refugees in Lebanon identifies four prevalent patterns of documentation, which inform varied patterns of access to services and vulnerabilities. For those living with document fragmentation, monitoring and intervention approaches should tailor to each documentation pattern’s associated constellation of needs.