47 research outputs found
Refugees, Humanitarian Emergencies, and the Politicization of Life
The concept of "humanitarian emergency"
has come to be largely synonymous
with contemporary refugee
situations. The purpose of this paper is to
critically explore the connections between
the categorization of refugees as an "emergency"
situation and the way in which
"humanitarianism" has come to constitute a
hegemonic discourse in which academics,
policy-makers, international
organizations, and refugee advocates
must formulate their arguments and actions.
Humanitarianism is often portrayed
as posing a challenge to the codes
and practices of state sovereignty because
it is a form of action which is purportedly
motivated by a sense of obligation and
responsibility to "humanity" that goes
beyond the responsibility one feels for
fellow citizens. This paper analyzes a series
of recent UNHCR representations of
refugees to suggest that humanitarianism
must instead be understood as an inherently political
concept. Drawing upon
the writings Giorgio Agamben, this paper
demonstrates how humanitarianism
is always already (bio)political to the
extent that it relies on a conception of
"bare human life" which is consistent
with the practices of state sovereignty.
From this perspective, framing the refugee phenomenon as a "humanitarian
emergency" works to sustain constitutive
practices which stabilize and reproduce
statist resolutions to questions of political
identity, community, and world order.Le concept d'« urgence humanitaire » est
devenu une sorte de synonyme général de
« situation contemporainedes réfugiés ».
Le but de cet article est de procéder à une
exploration critique des liens entre la catégorisation
du refuge comme situation d'« urgence » et la façon dont l'idée
d'« humanitarisme » en est venue à se
constituer en discours hégémonique,
dans le cadre duquel les universitaires,
les décideurs, les organisations internationales,
et les défendeurs des droits des
réfugiés se voient obligés de formuler
leurs arguments et leurs actions. L'humanitarisme
est souvent dépeint comme
posant un défi aux codes et pratiques de
la souveraineté des états, car c'est une
forme d'action qui serait motivée par un
sens de la responsabilité et des obligations
envers l'« humanité » qui outrepasserait
les responsabilités que l'on aurait
envers ses concitoyens. Le présent article
analyse une récente série de représentations de réfugiés du HCR visant asuggérer
que l'humanitarisme devrait plutôt
être compris comme in concept fondamentalement
politique. Fondé sur les
écrits de Giorgio Agamben, le présent article
démontre comment l'humanitarisme
est toujours déjà (bio)politique
dans la mesure où il se fonde sur une
conception de la « vie humaine minimale » quiest conformeàles pratiques des
états souverains. Dans cette perspective,
formuler le phénomène du refuge en terme
d'« urgence humanitaire» tend à perpétuer des pratiques constitutives qui stabilisent
et reproduisent la résolution
étatiste des questions d'identité politique,
de commùnautés, d'ordre mondial
Roundtable Report “No One Is Illegal”: The Fight for Refugee and Migrant Rights in Canada
On 8 December 2002, a roundtable discussion was held with members of the Action Committee for Non-Status Algerians (Montreal), the Ontario Coalition Against Poverty (Toronto), and No One Is Illegal (Montreal). In this transcription of the discussion, the non-status Algerian refugees share their experiences of living in Canada without formal status, a situation which they characterize as being degrading, unlivable, and absurd. The participants discuss the possibilities for organizing opposition to increasingly restrictive and repressive refugee and immigration policies. They examine the viability of anti-deportation campaigns, direct action casework, and the prospects for a broad-based movement in defence of refugee and migrant rights.Le 8 décembre 2002 a eu lieu une table ronde réunissant des membres du Comité d’action des sans-statut Algériens (Montréal), la Coalition ontarienne contre la pauvreté (Toronto) et No One is Illegal (« Personne n’est illégal ») (Montréal). Ce qui suit est une transcription des discussions qui ont eu lieu, au cours desquelles les Algériens sans statut partagent leur expérience de la vie au Canada sans un statut reconnu, une situation qu’ils qualifient de dégradante, invivable et absurde. Les participants examinent les possibilités d’organiser une opposition aux politiques en matière d’immigration et du traitement des réfugiés qui deviennent de plus en plus répressives et restrictives. Ils explorent la viabilité des campagnes anti-déportation, l’action directe et les possibilités d’organiser un mouvement rassembleur pour la défense des droits des réfugiés et des migrants
In solitary, in solidarity
This article assesses the challenges to a key 'anti-policy' within anti-terrorism: the detention of terror suspects. It analyses the global response to the 2005 kidnapping of a Christian Peacemaker Team in Iraq. Particular focus is given to how detainees in the 'War on Terror' emerged as key spokespeople in the attempt to influence the actions of the kidnappers. So-called 'terror detainees' in the UK and Canada made several appeals for mercy and wrote letters establishing their solidarity with the CPT hostages. Drawing on the political theory of Jacques Ranciere, the article analyses examples of detainee or hostage solidarity as acts of political subjectification. Detention is analysed as a site where key political dynamics are enacted. For detainees to articulate a grievance as an equal or enact an international solidarity is a radical political moment that serves to disrupt the routines and normalizations of the anti-policy of detention
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The thinking citizenship series
The introduction to the new series of articles in Citizenship Studies
(En)gendering the political: Citizenship from marginal spaces
This introduction sets out the central concerns of this special issue, the relationship between
marginality and the political. In doing so it makes the argument that the process of
marginalisation, the sites and experiences of ‘marginality’ provide a different lens through
which to understand citizenship. Viewing the political as the struggle over belonging it
considers how recent studies of citizenship have understood political agency. It argues that
marginality can help us understand multiple scales, struggles and solidarities both within and
beyond citizenship. Whilst there is a radical potential in much of the existing literature in
citizenship studies it is also important to consider political subjectivities and acts which are
not subsumed by right claims. Exploring marginality in this way means understanding how
subjects are disenfranchised by regimes of citizenship and at the same how time this also
(en)genders new political possibilities which are not always orientated towards 'inclusion'.
The introduction then sets out how each article contributes to this project
‘Wandering and settled tribes’: biopolitics, citizenship, and the racialized migrant
This paper argues that purportedly outdated racial categories continue to resonate in contemporary forms of racialization. I examine the use of metaphors of rootedness and shadows by a contemporary UK migrant advocacy organization and its allies to justify migrant regularization and manage illicit circulation. I argue that the distinction between rooted and rootless peoples draws on the colonial and racial distinctions between wandering and settled peoples. Contemporary notions of citizenship continue to draw upon and activate racial forms of differentiation. Citizenship is thus part of a form of racial governance that operates not only along biological but also social and cultural lines, infusing race into the structures, practices, and techniques of governance