Nothing Personal?
Geographies of Governing and Activism in the British Asylum System
RGS-IBG Book Series
1. Auflage Februar 2016
240 Seiten, Hardcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
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* Features original, unpublished empirical material from four Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) funded projects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
List of Figures ix
Acronyms xi
Acknowledgements xii
1 Introduction 1
2 Moral Distance and Bureaucracy 21
3 Distant Bureaucrats 48
4 Distance at Close Quarters 76
5 Indifference Towards Suffering Others During Sustained Contact 107
6 Indifference and Emotions 135
7 Examining Compassion 156
8 Conclusion 179
Methodological Appendix 191
References 196
Index 216
- Imogen Tyler, Lancaster University, UK
'Nothing Personal is personal: a thoughtful and timely analysis of the roles played by morality and indifference shaping detention in the UK. Gill insightfully explores spatial strategies such as dispersal, separation, buffering, and distance to better understand how people suffer (and die) in the custody of officials. This is an important read for anyone interested in understanding the people who run detention and asylum systems, and the politics of indifference at work there.'
- Alison Mountz, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada
