Refuge in the modern vipassanā movement (the concept/practice, not the ceremony/commitment)

How much discussion of *refuge* is there in the modern vipassanā movement (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vipassana_movement) ? If there is significant emphasis, what is its character? I am particularly interested in Western vipassanā circles such as IMS and Spirit Rock, but also their Eastern progenitors. I am not speaking here of the formal ceremony or commitment of taking refuge as much as the concept and ongoing practice of refuge.