Nothing Personal? E-Book

Nick Gill

• Herausgeber: John Wiley & Sons
• Kategorie: Wissenschaft und neue Technologien
• Serie: RGS-IBG Book Series
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 505

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2015

Beschreibung

In this groundbreaking new study, Nick Gill provides a conceptually innovative account of the ways in which indifference to the desperation and hardship faced by thousands of migrants fleeing persecution and exploitation comes about.

• Features original, unpublished empirical material from four Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded projects
• Challenges the consensus that border controls are necessary or desirable in contemporary society
• Demonstrates how immigration decision makers are immersed in a suffocating web of institutionalized processes that greatly hinder their objectivity and limit their access to alternative perspectives
• Theoretically informed throughout, drawing on the work of a range of social theorists, including Max Weber, Zygmunt Bauman, Emmanuel Levinas, and Georg Simmel

Leseprobe

Table of Contents

Cover

Title Page

Series Editors’ Preface

List of Figures

Acronyms

Acknowledgments

Chapter One: Introduction

Migrant Deaths

Moral Distance and Encounters

Enriching Accounts of Moral Distance

Asylum Seekers in the United Kingdom

Approaching Immigration Control: Spaces and Settings

Plan of the Book

Chapter Two: Moral Distance and Bureaucracy

The Status of Proximity in Moral Theory and Practice

Keeping People Apart

Rereading the Modern State in Terms of Moral Distance

Moral Distance and Immigration Controls

Conclusion

Chapter Three: Distant Bureaucrats

The National Asylum Support Service

Insulation

Buffering

Competition

’Find Your Local Asylum Support Team’

Conclusion

Chapter Four: Distance at Close Quarters

The Conditions of Contact

Inside Lunar House

Asylum Interviews

Appeals

Conclusion: On the Arts of Averting Encounters

Chapter Five: Indifference Towards Suffering Others During Sustained Contact

Immigration Detention in the United Kingdom

Empathy in Immigration Detention

Making Insensitivity Imperative

Making Insensitivity Easier

The Cruel Consequences of Insensitivity

Conclusion

Chapter Six: Indifference and Emotions

Emotions Versus Indifference?

The Interplay of Emotions in Immigration Control

The Softer Side of British Immigration Control

Conclusion

Chapter Seven: Examining Compassion

Closing Moral Distance Through the Media

Nurturing Positive Interaction

The Distinctiveness of Seeking Compassion

Against Compassion

Mitigating Considerations

Conclusion: The Recourse to Compassion

Chapter Eight: Conclusion

Encounter-Aversion

Remaining Oppositional

Generalised Indifference

Methodological Appendix

Sampling and Access

Ethics

Analysis

References

Index

End User License Agreement

List of Illustrations

Chapter 03

Figure 3.1 Number of asylum applicants to the United Kingdom, 1996–2005.

Figure 3.2 National Asylum Support Service (NASS) supported asylum seekers by region, 2004.

Figure 3.3 End-to-end National Asylum Support Service (NASS) process.

Figure 3.4 Graphic illustrating the structure and tone of the Application Form for NASS support, based on pages 1 and 7. Adapted from the National Asylum Support Service Application Form used by the Home Office in 2012.

Figure 3.5 Map of Portishead and Bristol.

Figure 3.6 Extract from the Regionalisation Newsletter of the National Asylum Support Service (NASS).

Chapter 04

Figure 4.1 Anti-fascist protest outside Lunar House.

Figure 4.2 Forecourt outside Lunar House and site of the English Volunteer Force (EVF) protest and counter-protest.

Figure 4.3 Lunar House with sign and Union Jack.

Figure 4.4 First-tier Immigration and Asylum Tribunal Hearing Centre, Columbus House, Newport, Wales. Photograph by Melanie Griffiths, 2013.

Figure 4.5 Layout of a Tribunal hearing room. Credit: Dr Melanie Griffiths for the original sketch and Dr Rebecca Rotter for the computer-generated version.

Chapter 08

Figure 8.1 Facing the English Volunteer Force (EVF) outside Lunar House.

Figure 8.2 No Borders, No One is Illegal and other groups stage a demonstration against the English Volunteer Force (EVF). Note: Lunar House is a few hundred metres to the left of the picture.

Guide

Cover

Table of Contents

Begin Reading

Pages

iii

iv

v

viii

ix

x

xi

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

16

17

18

19

20

21

22

23

24

25

26

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

37

38

39

40

41

42

43

44

45

46

47

48

49

50

51

52

53

54

55

56

57

58

59

60

61

62

63

64

65

66

67

68

69

70

71

72

73

74

75

76

77

78

79

80

81

82

83

84

85

86

87

88

89

90

91

92

93

94

95

96

97

98

99

100

101

102

103

104

105

106

107

108

109

110

111

112

113

114

115

116

117

118

119

120

121

122

123

124

125

126

127

128

129

130

131

133

134

132

135

136

137

138

139

140

141

142

143

144

145

146

147

148

149

150

151

152

153

154

155

156

157

158

159

160

161

162

163

164

165

166

167

168

169

170

171

172

173

174

175

176

177

178

179

180

181

182

183

184

185

186

187

188

189

190

191

192

193

194

195

196

197

198

199

200

201

202

203

204

205

206

207

208

209

210

211

212

213

214

215

216

217

218

219

220

221

222

223

224

225

226

227

228

RGS-IBG Book Series

For further information about the series and a full list of published and forthcoming titles please visit www.rgsbookseries.com

Published

Nothing Personal? Geographies of Governing and Activism in the British Asylum System

Nick Gill

Articulations of Capital: Global Production Networks and Regional Transformations

John Pickles and Adrian Smith, with Robert Begg, Milan Buček, Poli Roukova and Rudolf Pástor

Metropolitan Preoccupations: The Spatial Politics of Squatting in Berlin

Alexander Vasudevan

Everyday Peace? Politics, Citizenship and Muslim Lives in India

Philippa Williams

Assembling Export Markets: The Making and Unmaking of Global Food Connections in West Africa

Stefan Ouma

Africa’s Information Revolution: Technical Regimes and Production Networks in South Africa and Tanzania

James T. Murphy and Pádraig Carmody

Origination: The Geographies of Brands and Branding

Andy Pike

In the Nature of Landscape: Cultural Geography on the Norfolk Broads

David Matless

Geopolitics and Expertise: Knowledge and Authority in European Diplomacy

Merje Kuus

Everyday Moral Economies: Food, Politics and Scale in Cuba

Marisa Wilson

Material Politics: Disputes Along the Pipeline

Andrew Barry

Fashioning Globalisation: New Zealand Design, Working Women and the Cultural Economy

Maureen Molloy and Wendy Larner

Working Lives – Gender, Migration and Employment in Britain, 1945–2007

Linda McDowell

Dunes: Dynamics, Morphology and Geological History

Andrew Warren

Spatial Politics: Essays for Doreen Massey

Edited by David Featherstone and Joe Painter

The Improvised State: Sovereignty, Performance and Agency in Dayton Bosnia

Alex Jeffrey

Learning the City: Knowledge and Translocal Assemblage

Colin McFarlane

Globalizing Responsibility: The Political Rationalities of Ethical Consumption

Clive Barnett, Paul Cloke, Nick Clarke and Alice Malpass

Domesticating Neo-Liberalism: Spaces of Economic Practice and Social Reproduction in Post-Socialist Cities

Alison Stenning, Adrian Smith, Alena Rochovská and Dariusz Świątek

Swept Up Lives? Re-envisioning the Homeless City

Paul Cloke, Jon May and Sarah Johnsen

Aerial Life: Spaces, Mobilities, Affects

Peter Adey

Millionaire Migrants: Trans-Pacific Life Lines

David Ley

State, Science and the Skies: Governmentalities of the British Atmosphere

Mark Whitehead

Complex Locations: Women’s Geographical Work in the UK 1850–1970

Avril Maddrell

Value Chain Struggles: Institutions and Governance in the Plantation Districts of South India

Jeff Neilson and Bill Pritchard

Queer Visibilities: Space, Identity and Interaction in Cape Town

Andrew Tucker

Arsenic Pollution: A Global Synthesis

Peter Ravenscroft, Hugh Brammer and Keith Richards

Resistance, Space and Political Identities: The Making of Counter-Global Networks

David Featherstone

Mental Health and Social Space: Towards Inclusionary Geographies?

Hester Parr

Climate and Society in Colonial Mexico: A Study in Vulnerability

Georgina H. Endfield

Geochemical Sediments and Landscapes

Edited by David J. Nash and Sue J. McLaren

Driving Spaces: A Cultural-Historical Geography of England’s M1 Motorway

Peter Merriman

Badlands of the Republic: Space, Politics and Urban Policy

Mustafa Dikeç

Geomorphology of Upland Peat: Erosion, Form and Landscape Change

Martin Evans and Jeff Warburton

Spaces of Colonialism: Delhi’s Urban Governmentalities

Stephen Legg

People/States/Territories

Rhys Jones

Publics and the City

Kurt Iveson

After the Three Italies: Wealth, Inequality and Industrial Change

Mick Dunford and Lidia Greco

Putting Workfare in Place

Peter Sunley, Ron Martin and Corinne Nativel

Domicile and Diaspora

Alison Blunt

Geographies and Moralities

Edited by Roger Lee and David M. Smith

Military Geographies

Rachel Woodward

A New Deal for Transport?

Edited by Iain Docherty and Jon Shaw

Geographies of British Modernity

Edited by David Gilbert, David Matless and Brian Short

Lost Geographies of Power

John Allen

Globalizing South China

Carolyn L. Cartier

Geomorphological Processes and Landscape Change: Britain in the Last 1000 Years

Edited by David L. Higgitt and E. Mark Lee

Nothing Personal?

Geographies of Governing and Activism in the British Asylum System

Nick Gill

This edition first published 2016© 2016 John Wiley and Sons, Ltd.

Registered OfficeJohn Wiley & Sons, Ltd, The Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK

Editorial Offices350 Main Street, Malden, MA 02148-5020, USA9600 Garsington Road, Oxford, OX4 2DQ, UKThe Atrium, Southern Gate, Chichester, West Sussex, PO19 8SQ, UK

For details of our global editorial offices, for customer services, and for information about how to apply for permission to reuse the copyright material in this book please see our website at www.wiley.com/wiley-blackwell.

The right of Nick Gill to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except as permitted by the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Wiley also publishes its books in a variety of electronic formats. Some content that appears in print may not be available in electronic books.

Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book are trade names, service marks, trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publisher is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book.

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. It is sold on the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering professional services and neither the publisher nor the author shall be liable for damages arising herefrom. If professional advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional should be sought.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication data applied for

9781444367065 [hardback]9781444367058 [paperback]

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Cover image: Front Cover image © Nick Gill

For Julia

Series Editors’ Preface

The RGS-IBG Book Series only publishes work of the highest international standing. Its emphasis is on distinctive new developments in human and physical geography, although it is also open to contributions from cognate disciplines whose interests overlap with those of geographers. The Series places strong emphasis on theoretically-informed and empirically-strong texts. Reflecting the vibrant and diverse theoretical and empirical agendas that characterize the contemporary discipline, contributions are expected to inform, challenge and stimulate the reader. Overall, the RGS-IBG Book Series seeks to promote scholarly publications that leave an intellectual mark and change the way readers think about particular issues, methods or theories.

For details on how to submit a proposal please visit:www.rgsbookseries.com

David FeatherstoneUniversity of Glasgow, UK

Tim AllottUniversity of Manchester, UK

RGS-IBG Book Series Editors

List of Figures

Figure 3.1

Number of asylum applicants to the United Kingdom, 1996–2005. Adapted from The Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford (2014).

Figure 3.2

National Asylum Support Service (NASS) supported asylum seekers by region, 2004. Adapted from North East Consortium for Asylum Support Services and North of England Refugee Service (2004).

Figure 3.3

End-to-end National Asylum Support Service (NASS) process. Adapted from National Asylum Support Service (2007).

Figure 3.4

Graphic illustrating the structure and tone of the Application Form for NASS support, based on pages 1 and 7. Adapted from the National Asylum Support Service Application Form used by the Home Office in 2012.

Figure 3.5

Map of Portishead and Bristol. Source: Exeter University Geography Department Map and Print Room. Population figures correct July 2014.

Figure 3.6

Extract from the Regionalisation Newsletter of the National Asylum Support Service (NASS). Source: Author’s figure adapted from theNational Asylum Support Service Regionalisation Project Newsletter, August 2005 issue, p. 4.

Figure 4.1

Anti-fascist protest outside Lunar House. Author’s photograph, 2013.

Figure 4.2

Forecourt outside Lunar House and site of the English Volunteer Force (EVF) protest and counter-protest. Author’s photograph, 2013.

Figure 4.3

Lunar House with sign and Union Jack. Author’s photograph, 2013.

Figure 4.4

First-tier Immigration and Asylum Tribunal Hearing Centre, Columbus House, Newport, Wales. Photograph by Melanie Griffiths, 2013.

Figure 4.5

Layout of a Tribunal hearing room. Credit: Dr Melanie Griffiths for the original sketch and Dr Rebecca Rotter for the computer-generated version.

Figure 8.1

Facing the English Volunteer Force (EVF) outside Lunar House. Author’s photograph, 2013.

Figure 8.2

No Borders, No One is Illegal and other groups stage a demonstration against the English Volunteer Force (EVF). Note: Lunar House is a few hundred metres to the left of the picture. Author’s photograph, 2013.

Acronyms

BBC

British Broadcasting Corporation

BME

British Minority Ethnic

BNP

British National Party

BRIAF

Bristol Refugee Inter Agency Forum

CAB, CABx

Citizens Advice Bureaux

Cedars

Compassion, Empathy, Dignity, Approachability, Respect and Support

DCO

Detention Custody Officer

DFT

Detained Fast Track

DHSS

Department of Health and Social Security

ESRC

Economic and Social Research Council

EVF

English Volunteer Force

FAS

Failed Asylum Seeker

G4S

Group 4 Securicor

IND

Immigration and Nationality Directorate

NASS

National Asylum Support Service

NHS

National Health Service

PCS

Public and Commercial Services (union)

PO

Presenting Officer

RATs

Regional Asylum Teams

SLC

South London Citizens

UAF

Unite Against Fascism

UKBA

United Kingdom Border Agency

UNHCR

United Nations High Commission for Refugees

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to lots of people who have helped in the writing of Nothing Personal? I thank the activists of Bristol for their inspiration. The participants in the research, who have been generous enough to give their time to the project, also deserve a special mention. Others include, in particular, the co-investigators and researchers who I have had the pleasure of working alongside: Jennifer Allsopp, Mary Bosworth, Andrew Burridge, Deirdre Conlon, Abigail Grace, Melanie Griffiths, Alexandra Hall, Dominique Moran, Ceri Oeppen, Natalia Paszkiewicz, Rebecca Rotter and Imogen Tyler. I have also derived great benefit from conversations with my students working in this area, including Shoker Abobeker, Emma Marshall, Patrycja Pinkowska and Amanda Schmid-Scott. Others who have provided encouragement and suggestions include John Allen, Clive Barnett, Keith Bassett, Sean Carter, Paul Cloke, Matt Finn, Wendy Larner, Krithika Srinivasan, Adam Tickell, Gordon Walker and Andrew Williams. I am grateful in particular to Jonathan Darling and the reviewers for constructive, patient and supportive comments through the writing process and to Neil Coe for fantastic editorial support. There are certainly others, too numerous to mention, who have been an invaluable support, including not least the staff at Wiley-Blackwell and Terry Halliday for work on the index. I acknowledge the financial support of the Economic and Social Research Council (grant numbers PTA-030-2003-01643, RES-000-22-3928-A, ES/J023426/1 and ES/J021814/1). Finally, a huge thank you to my brother Mat for lots of advice and encouragement, my parents, and to my wonderful family.

Chapter One