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''We are not animals!' Humanitarian border security and zoopolitical spaces in EUrope'
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Vaughan-Williams, Nick (2015) ''We are not animals!' Humanitarian border security and zoopolitical spaces in EUrope'. Political Geography, Volume 45 . pp. 1-10. doi:10.1016/j.polgeo.2014.09.009
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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.polgeo.2014.09.009
Abstract
This article juxtaposes two prominent discourses accompanying the neoliberalisation of EUrope’s borders. The first is the emerging notion of humanitarian ‘migrant-centredness’ found in the policies of elites and security professionals in the field of EUropean border security and migration management. The second is the use of animalised metaphors and imagery that pervade narratives of ‘irregular’ migrants’ embodied experiences of detention across and beyond EUrope. It argues that what is at stake in this juxtaposition is more than simply a discrepancy between the ‘rhetoric’ of neoliberal bordering and the ‘reality’ of ‘irregular’ migrants’ experiences. Such a view, which is commonly held among diverse critics of border violence, ultimately makes a problematic appeal back to the very humanitarian frame that has already been coopted by authorities associated with or even complicit in that violence. Seeking an alternative diagnosis and ground for critique beyond the ‘rhetoric/reality’ bind, the analysis draws on conceptual resources found in (post)biopolitical theory – particularly Jacques Derrida’s concept of ‘zoopolitics’ – in order to identify and explore animalisation as a specific spatial technology of power. Understanding the work that the zoopolitical threshold does in shaping contemporary spaces of incarceration and producing animalised subjects offers new insights into both governmental logics of border security and the limits of humanitarian-based critiques.
| Item Type: | Journal Article | ||||||
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| Subjects: | G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > G Geography (General) J Political Science > JN Political institutions (Europe) J Political Science > JV Colonies and colonization. Emigration and immigration. International migration J Political Science > JZ International relations |
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| Divisions: | Faculty of Social Sciences > Politics and International Studies | ||||||
| Journal or Publication Title: | Political Geography | ||||||
| Publisher: | Elsevier Science Inc. | ||||||
| ISSN: | 0962-6298 | ||||||
| Official Date: | 1 March 2015 | ||||||
| Dates: |
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| Volume: | Volume 45 | ||||||
| Number of Pages: | 11 | ||||||
| Page Range: | pp. 1-10 | ||||||
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.polgeo.2014.09.009 | ||||||
| Status: | Peer Reviewed | ||||||
| Publication Status: | Published | ||||||
| Access rights to Published version: | Restricted or Subscription Access |
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