Mayblin, Lucy (2013) Asylum after empire : colonial institutional orders and the hierarchical ordering of humanity. PhD thesis, University of Warwick.

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Abstract

In this study I argue that the recent proliferation of punitive and restrictive asylum
policies indicates that the British government is prepared to tolerate levels of
violence against certain human bodies, from particular countries, to a much
greater degree than would be tolerated for others. Archival evidence is presented
to show that hierarchical conceptions of humanity have a long history, rooted in
British colonial activities, and that such ideologies continue to operate in the
contemporary period. The project involves documenting three ‘critical junctures’
when ideas of human hierarchy were challenged at the political institutional level.
These critical junctures are used to make the case for a historically informed
reading of contemporary British asylum policy which takes seriously the
epistemic legacies of colonialism. The study adapts Desmond King and Rogers
Smith’s ‘racial institutional orders’ approach, originally conceived in the US
context, to the British case, and incorporates a post-colonial perspective into the
analysis. Through analysing the debates around these issues, it is possible to glean
some insight into both the enduring power of ideas of human hierarchy, and the
possibilities for transformative change.

Item Type:	Thesis (PhD)
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain H Social Sciences > HM Sociology J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Asylum, Right of -- Great Britain, Refugees -- Government policy -- Great Britain, Great Britain -- Emigration and immigration -- Government policy, Great Britain -- Colonies -- Social conditions, Hierarchies
Official Date:	March 2013
Dates:	Date Event March 2013 Submitted
Institution:	University of Warwick
Theses Department:	Department of Sociology
Thesis Type:	PhD
Publication Status:	Unpublished
Supervisor(s)/Advisor:	Carter, Bob, 1948-; Bhambra, Gurminder K.
Sponsors:	Economic and Social Research Council (Great Britain) (ESRC)
Extent:	290 leaves.
Language:	eng

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