Firm and fair? Bureaucracy, asylum policy, and everyday border work in the English Channel

坚定、公平？

• 批准号: 2593720
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Oxford
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2593720
• 关键词: Firm; fair; Bureaucracy; asylum; policy

'Small boat' crossings of the English Channel have attracted significant British political/media attention in recent years. In summer 2020, the Home Office launched a renewed campaign against these attempts at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, laying the groundwork for both unprecedented further spending on border militarisation, and the proposed asylum policy' overhaul' under the rubric 'firm and fair'. To date, there has been limited empirical engagement with the British role in governing the Anglo-Franco borderland, including developments in the Channel. Further academic work is needed to improve understandings not just of how asylum seekers using this route are constructed in policy, and why, but how this relates to their everyday treatment on the ground.This proposed research asks how politicians, policymakers and operational staff within the Home Office construct, justify and enact, both the 'problem' and their own actions, in this space. It asks: How are contemporary Home Office interventions in the Channel presented and understood by its politicians, policymakers, and operational staff? How are border policies enacted on the South Coast? In what ways does this contemporary border work relate to the longue durée of British Immigration 'management'? Three qualitative methods will be used in an interdisciplinary approach. Firstly, contemporary discourse analysis will track official Channel policies and discourse over time, and comparative historical case-studies identified and explored. Secondly, elite semi-structured interviews will probe how policymakers make sense of their own work and negotiate competing interests/logics surrounding 'small boats'. Thirdly, ethnography with Border Force will explore how policies are translated, understood and enacted on the ground.This research will contribute to three main bodies of literature. Firstly, cross-disciplinary literature on the administrative and social practices at work within bureaucratic institutions of power. Secondly, literature on border work, both discursive and enacted. And thirdly, scholarship which examines links between contemporary border work and colonial/racialized histories of British migration management.The task of understanding bureaucratic institutions is not an easy one given issues of access, complexity, and sheer size. It is, however, necessary that as scholars we seek to advance knowledge of the processes at work within these 'black boxes' of power. This research seeks to add a timely contribution to knowledge about migration management in the UK, through the understudied lens of the Home Office and its actors. As such, it will be of interest both to actors within the Home Office, and to NGOs and advocacy organisations.

近年来，“小船”穿越英吉利海峡引起了英国政治/媒体的极大关注。2020年夏季，英国内政部在新型冠状病毒疫情最严重的时候再次发起了一场反对这些企图的运动，为前所未有的进一步边境军事化开支以及在“坚定和公平”的标题下提出的庇护政策“改革”奠定了基础。到目前为止，英国在英法边境地区的治理作用，包括海峡的发展，已经有有限的经验参与。需要进一步的学术工作，以提高理解不仅是如何使用这条路线的寻求庇护者在政策中构建，为什么，但这是如何与他们的日常待遇在地面上。这项拟议的研究问如何政治家，政策制定者和业务人员在内政部建设，证明和制定，这两个'问题'和他们自己的行动，在这个空间。它问：政治家、政策制定者和业务人员如何介绍和理解当代内政部在渠道中的干预措施？南海岸的边境政策是如何制定的？当代边境工作如何与英国移民“管理”的长期持续有关？三个定性方法将用于跨学科的方法。首先，当代话语分析将跟踪官方渠道政策和话语随着时间的推移，并比较历史案例研究确定和探讨。其次，精英半结构化访谈将探讨政策制定者如何理解自己的工作，并就围绕“小船”的竞争利益/逻辑进行谈判。第三，民族志与边境部队将探讨政策是如何翻译，理解和制定的地面。这项研究将有助于三个主要的文学主体。第一，关于在官僚权力机构中工作的行政和社会实践的跨学科文献。第二，关于边境工作的文学，既有话语的，也有制定的。第三，研究当代边境工作与英国移民管理的殖民/种族化历史之间的联系的学术研究。考虑到访问、复杂性和规模等问题，理解官僚机构的任务并不容易。然而，作为学者，我们有必要寻求在这些权力的“黑匣子”内推进工作过程的知识。这项研究旨在通过内政部及其行动者的未充分研究的透镜，为英国移民管理知识做出及时的贡献。因此，内政部内部的行为者以及非政府组织和宣传组织都将对此感兴趣。